Do Not Worry

Matthew 6:25-34 (New International Version)

²⁵“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[a]?

²⁸“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

(found here.)

“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.”
- Billy Graham

“Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared.”
- Eddie Rickenbacher

“Courage is fear that has said its prayers.”

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”
- Ambrose Redmoon

“Cowards die a thousand times before their deaths.”

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
- Psalm 23:4

“Fear is only as deep as the mind allows.”
- Japanese proverb

“Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed.”
- Michael Pritchard

“Fear not that your life will someday end. Fear only that you do nothing with it.”

“If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.”
- Flavia Weedn

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
- Dale Carnegie

“Love is always creative, fear always destructive.”
- Emmet Fox

“Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.”
- Babe Ruth

“No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.”
- Edmund Burke

“People wish to learn to swim and at the same time to keep one foot on the ground.”
- Marcel Proust

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing that you will make one.”
- Elbert Hubbard

“The key to change… is to let go of fear.”
- Rosanne Cash

“The things which we fear the most in life have already happend to us.”
- Robin Williams, One Hour Photo

“There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them.”
- Andre Gide

“When I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God, whose word I praise. In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?”
- Psalm 56:3-4

“You must be strong now. You must never give up. And when people make you cry and you are afraid of the dark, don’t forget the light is always there.”

A DIET PRAYER

Lord, My soul is ripped with riot
incited by my wicked diet.
“We Are What We Eat,” said a wise old man!
and, Lord, if that’s true, I’m a garbage can.

I want to rise on Judgment Day, that’s plain!
but at my present weight, I’ll need a crane.
So grant me strength, that I may not fall
into the clutches of cholesterol.

May my flesh with carrot-curls be dated,
that my soul may be poly unsaturated
And show me the light, that I may bear witness
to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness.

And at oleomargarine I’ll never mutter,
for the road to Hell is spread with butter.
And cream is cursed; and cake is awful;
and Satan is hiding in every waffle.

Mephistopheles lurks in provolone;
the Devil is in each slice of baloney,
Beelzebub is a chocolate drop,
and Lucifer is a lollipop.

Give me this day my daily slice
but, cut it thin and toast it twice.
I beg upon my dimpled knees,
deliver me from jujubees.

And when my days of trial are done,
and my war with malted milk is won,
Let me stand with Heavenly throng,
In a shining robe–size 30 long.

I can do it Lord, If You’ll show to me,
the virtues of lettuce and celery.
If You’ll teach me the evil of mayonnaise,
of pasta a la Milannaise
potatoes a la Lyonnaise
and crisp-fried chicken from the South.

Lord, if you love me, shut my mouth!

The Holy Alphabet

Whoever came up with this one must have had some Divine guidance!

Although things are not perfect
Because of trial or pain
Continue in thanksgiving
Do not begin to blame
Even when the times are hard
Fierce winds are bound to blow
God is forever able
Hold on to what you know
Imagine life without His love
J oy would cease to be

Keep thanking Him for all the things
Love imparts to thee
Move out of “Camp Complaining”
No weapon that is known
On earth can yield the power
Praise can do alone
Quit looking at the future
Redeem the time at hand
Start every day with worship
To “thank” is a command
Until we see Him coming
Victorious in the sky
We’ll run the race with gratitude
Xalting God most high
Yes, there’ll be good times and yes some will be bad, but…
Zion waits in glory…where none are ever sad!

You’re Gonna Miss This
by Trace Adkins

She was staring out the window of that SUV
Complainin’, sayin’ “I can’t wait to turn 18″
She said, “I’ll make my own money, and I’ll make my own rules.”
Mamma put the car in park out there in front of the school
Then she kissed her head and said, “I was just like you.”

-Chorus-
You’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times,
So take a good look around.
You may not know it now
But you’re gonna miss this.

Before she knows it she’s a brand new bride
In a one-bedroom apartment, and her daddy stops by.
He tells her it’s a nice place,
She says, “It’ll do for now.”
Starts talking about babies and buying a house.
Daddy shakes his head and says, “Baby, just slow down”

-Chorus-
You’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times,
So take a good look around.
You may not know it now
But you’re gonna miss this.

Five years later there’s a plumber workin’ on the water heater,
Dog’s barkin’, phone’s ringin’
One kid’s cryin’, one kid’s screamin’
And she keeps apologizin’
He says, “They don’t bother me.
I’ve got two babies of my own.
One’s 36, one’s 23.
Huh, it’s hard to believe, but …”

-Chorus-
You’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times,
So take a good look around.
You may not know it now
But you’re gonna miss this.

You’re gonna miss this
Yeah, you’re gonna miss this

(Hear the song and see the video at youtube.)

I know someone who often talks of getting things “over with.” When she’s at work it’s, “Let me get this shift over with.” If she’s about to run an errand she says, “I’ll go get this over with.” To hear her talk, she views day-to-day activities as something to get through.

Maybe she doesn’t mean anything by it, but it often reminds me of an article I read years ago in my college paper. The article spoke of how we’re always waiting for something down the road. When we’re kids, we can’t wait to turn sixteen. When we turn sixteen, we look forward to turning eighteen, and then at eighteen, we want to be twenty-one. We look forward to graduating, then to finding a job, then to getting married, then to having a family… and in all of this “I can’t wait to–”, we’re literally wishing our lives away.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with having dreams and looking forward to the future, and some of our present tasks can only be described as drudge work. But let’s be careful not to miss the good things that we have right now. That way, we won’t look back at our lives someday and find that we simply “got them over with.”

In 1930, Pat O’Brien had a scene in a play The Up and Up in which he had to content with two angry people at once — a person on the phone and one at his desk. To him, playing that scene was “like fighting through Notre Dame’s football line while singing ‘Danny Boy.’” The play received mixed reviews and its outlook seemed dim. O’Brien thought, Why knock myself out on something with no future? But then a Bible verse echoed in his memory: “Whatever task lies to your hand, do it with all your might.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10) And so, at every performance, he put his all into the scene, sometimes coming off stage wringing wet.

After the show closed, O’Brien went on to a few obscure parts. Then one day he received a phone call from a man who said, “Mr. Hughes is filming the play The Front Page and wants you in it.” O’Brien jumped at the opportunity.

The film’s director, Lewis Milestone, later told him why he was chosen. Milestone had gone to New York with friends, planning to see a hit show, but they were one seat short so Lewis went to see The Up and Up instead. He said, “One scene really impressed me — the one at the desk.” O’Brien’s outstanding film career was launched by his giving his all . . . for a part that had seemed worthless!

(Source: God’s Little Devotional Book)

Winners take time to relish their work, knowing that scaling the mountain is what makes the view from the top so exhilarating.
- Denis Waitley

Don’t set compensation as a goal. Find work you like, and the compensation will follow.
- Harding Lawrence

I find that a man is as old as his work. If his work keeps him from moving forward, he will look forward with the work.
- William Ernest Hocking

To love what you do and feel that it matters – how could anything be more fun?
- Katherine Graham

Men who do things without being told draw the most wages.
- Edwin H. Stuart

Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.
- Theodore Roosevelt

The common denominator for success is work.
- John D. Rockefeller

Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.
- Sam Ewing

The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.
- Richard Bach

In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: They must be fit for it: They must not do too much of it: And they must have a sense of success in it.
- John Ruskin

A successful man continues to look for work after he has found a job.
- Unknown Author

There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes.
- William John Bennett

It is the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity.
- Mahatma Gandhi

Hard work means prosperity; only a fool idles away his time.
- Proverbs 12:11

(Found here.)

Timmy was a little five year old boy that his Mom loved very much and, being a worrier, she was concerned about him walking to school when he started Kindergarten. She walked him to school a couple of days but when he came home one day, he told his mother that he did not want her walking him to school everyday. He wanted to be like the “big boys” and walk with them. He protested loudly, so she finally got an idea of how to handle it.

She asked a neighbor, Mrs. Goodnest, if she would surreptitiously follow her son to school, at a distance behind him that he would not likely notice, but close enough to keep a watch on him. Mrs. Goodnest said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway, it would be a good way for them to get some exercise, so she agreed.

The next school day, Mrs. Goodnest and her little girl, Marcy, set out following behind Timmy as he walked to school with another neighbor boy he knew. She did this for the whole week.

As the boys walked and chatted, kicking stones and twigs, the little friend of Timmy noticed that this same lady was following them as she seemed to do every day all week. Finally, he said to Timmy, “Have you noticed that lady following us all week? Do you know her?”

Timmy nonchalantly replied, “Yeah, I know who she is.”

The little friend said, “Well, who is she?”

“That’s just Shirley Goodnest,” Timmy said.

“Shirley Goodnest? Who’s she and why is she following us?”

“Well,” Timmy explained, “every night my Mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers ‘cuz she worries about me so much. And in it, the Psalm says, Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life. So I guess I’ll just have to get used to it.”

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
– Albert Einstein

If it were not for hopes, the heart would break.
– Thomas Fuller.

Never deprive someone of hope… it may be all they have.
– Unknown.

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost:
that is where they should be. Now, put foundations under them.
– Henry David Thoreau. Walden.

Hope, deceitful as it is, serves at least to lead us to the end of our lives by an agreeable route.
– Francois de La Rochefoucauld.

Your hopes, dreams and aspirations are legitimate. They are trying to take you airborne, above the clouds, above the storms, if you only let them.
– William James.

There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow.
– Orison Marden.

Hope is passion for what is possible.
– Soren Kierkegaard.

Let perseverance be your engine and hope your fuel.
– H. Jackson Brown Jr.

There are no hopeless situations, only people who are hopeless about them.
– Dinah Shore, Winfried Newman.

Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.
– Pope John XXIII.

Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hoping does not mean doing nothing. It is not fatalistic resignation. It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusion. It is not compelled to work away at keeping up appearances with a bogus spirituality. It is the opposite of desperate and panicky manipulations, of scurrying and worrying. And hoping is not dreaming. It is not spinning an illusion or fantasy to protect us from our boredom or our pain. It means a confident, alert expectation that God will do what he said he will do. It is imagination put in the harness of faith. It is a willingness to let God do it in his way and in his time. It is the opposite of making plans that we demand that God put into effect, telling him both how and when to do it.
– Eugene Peterson.

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.
– F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good.
– Unknown.

Don’t believe in miracles, rely on them!
– Unknown.

All human wisdom is summed up in two words: wait and hope.
– Alexandre Dumas.

We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes.
– John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
– Helen Keller.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
– Unknown.

Hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers.
– Robert Ingersoll.

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.
– Martin Luther King Jr.

Disappointment often focuses on the failure of our own agenda rather than on God’s long-term purposes for us, which may use stress and struggle as tools for strengthening our spiritual muscles.
– Luci Shaw.

A man’s reach should exceed his grasp; else what’s a heaven for?
– Robert Browning, Andrea del Sarto.

Every area of trouble gives out a ray of hope; and the one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable.
– John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

It is a fact of life that we find ourselves in unpleasant demoralizing situations which we can neither escape nor control. We can keep our morale and spirits high by using both “coping” and “hoping” humor. Coping humor laughs at the hopelessness in our situation. It gives us the courage to hang in there, but it does not bring hope. The uniqueness of hoping humor lies in its acceptance of life with all its dichotomies, contradictions, and incongruities. It celebrates the hope in human life. From one comes courage, from the other comes inspiration.
– Cy Eberhart.

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
– Galatians 6:9.

(sources: here and
here)