What Are You Worried About?

I was thigh deep in the murky waters of the Brazos River a few weeks ago fly-fishing for large mouth bass. As I worked my way around a brushy dead fall protruding into the river, I flipped my fly carefully under the branches hoping for the trademark attack of a violent and angry fish. Instead, what I saw gave my heart a start. The largest Water Moccasin I have ever encountered slithered its gray-black body off of the dead fall and into the water with me.

"Do not be anxious," Paul writes in Philippians 4:6. "Do not worry," Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:31. "Do not fret," David says in Psalms 37:8. I can't help but wonder if any of the three were ever thigh deep in the murk of a muddy river with a poisonous snake.

What are you worried about? It may not be a cold, gray reptile slithering toward you, but it can be just as scary nonetheless. When it comes down to it, I must decide if I am going to let God carry His responsibilities or if I am going to carry them for Him and be guilty of worry.

Worry is assuming responsibility for something that is God's responsibility. He is explicit about carrying burdens that are not ours to tote. Yet, I find myself laboring under loads that I was never designed to carry. Is it any wonder that I struggle and ache inside when I stress myself beyond my Maker's design and intended use?