I heard about a patient in a mental hospital who was holding his ear close to the wall, listening intently.  The attendant finally approached.  “Shh!” whispered the patient, beckoning him over.  The attendant pressed his ear to the wall for a long time.  “I can’t hear a thing,” he said.  “I know,” replied the patient, “it’s been like that all day!”

Have you ever worried so much about things going wrong that you begin to worry when everything goes right?  Worry probably does more than anything else to keep us from having peace of mind.

Psychologists (with nothing better to do) have come up with some statistics about our worries.  They say that 40% of the things we worry about never happen,  30% of the things we worry about have already happened (and thus can’t be changed), 12% of our worries focus on health concerns, and 10% of our worries are over insignificant things.

That means that over 80% of our worries are about things which are unimportant, or that we have absolutely no control over.

So, what have you been worrying about lately?

“Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks.  And God’s peace, which is so great we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 4:6-7, NCV)

–Alan Smith