Tke Worry Habit
And Its Atfful Toll
A Scriptural Meditation O n tKe Sin of Anxietj) By REV. FRANK LIN J. HULING of Los Angeles A Former B. I. O . L. A . Student
we are worrying about them. On these three counts, then, we indict the dread demon “Worry,” which is the' parent of the Indigo Imps—-the “ Blues.” But the senselessness of worry is not the strongest indictment against it. Worrying is a great sin. The Sinfulness of Worry Doubtless many who will agree that worrying is useless will hardly be ready to admit that all worrying is sinful. But the Word of God declares in Heb. 11:6 that “ without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto Him;” and in 1 John 5:10 we read, “ he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar.” But little thought is necessary to see that worry arid faith in God have nothing in common. Since lack of faith displeases God, worry, which is lack of faith in God, is a sin. To disbelieve God’s rich promises of help and blessing, at all times and regardless of circumstances, is to make God a liar. Surely that is a great sin. Let us therefore abide by the judgment of God’s Word on worry, and recognize that worry is sin. There is nothing that so wounds the heart of God as to have His children doubt Him. Since, as the Word of God declares, “ it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb. 6:18), it is therefore impossible to please God without trusting Him. When we worry we doubt three things about God. We doubt His love; we doubt His wisdom; we doubt His power. We say by our worrying that God does not love us, or He doesn’t know just what is best for us, or He hasn’t the power to help us. We would
HIS world is full of trou ble, occasioning a v a s t amount of anxiety and worry. Worry is one of the most natural things in the world, but it is also abso lutely unnecessary, useless
and harmful. Everyone, even children, know some thing about worrying. In that sense we are all Marthas, “ anxious and troubled about many things.” Worrying has whitened more hair, filled more lives with misery, helped to fatten more physicians’ purses, and brought more people to an untimely grave, than all the wars of the world. For this terrible toll which worry has exacted of the human race, what bene fit has worry given? Not one iota of good has worry accomplished. It is a total loss. It has a place only on the debit side of the.ledger. The Senselessness of Worry Worrying is foolish for three rea sons. First, it does no good to the per son or thing worried about. Jesus said in Matt. 6:27, “Which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life?” If we worry about our home cares, our business cares, our health, our finances, or some loved one, we do not benefit them in the slightest degree. Second, by worrying we unfit our selves for thinking clearly and acting effectively in any emergency where our help is required and we could do some good. Third, we annoy those who know that
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