What can pull the plug on worry, and drain away the boiling, annoying scum which overflows into every part of your life?

But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say.
(Matt. 10:19)

"I am a Christian," writes a friend of Guidelines, adding what perhaps you could say as well, "I know I shouldn't worry, but I do. Is there anything I can do to overcome this?" When Dale Carnegie wrote his classic How to Stop Worrying and Start Living he said that the purpose of the book was not to tell you something new, but to give you a kick and inspire you to do something about your problem.

Actually, today's commentary probably falls into that category as well. I am thinking of a young woman moving up the ladder in her career, an editor for a well-known Christian publication, who poured out her heart, saying, "I know that ulcers and Christians don't go together," yet the struggle she was having with her health, to her seemed to be an apparent contradiction of her faith. The fact is that all of our ulcers are not the result of worry or stress, but it is also true that your lifestyle which is driven by the caffeine of life—stress, busyness, trying to balance business and family, keeping up with overload – will take its toll on your body.

Then things happen—your kids disappoint you, your husband or wife fails you, you are taken to the emergency ward of the hospital with stomach or heart pains and your world begins to unravel. "What's going to happen to me?' "What should I do about this?" and the needle on the worry meter jumps off the page.

“Worry,” said E. Stanley Jones, “is the interest we pay on tomorrow's troubles." But it is more than that. It begins as a trickle, then erodes your energy and productivity, draining you of all creative abilities and possibilities.

In some cases, part of the solution is revamping your lifestyle, but in other situations—like swimming the horses across the stream or raising five kids without a husband—you can't quit or walk out. You've got to move on.

What can pull the plug on worry, and drain away the boiling, annoying scum which overflows into every part of your life? Part of the answer is how you view God in relationship to your problem. What you cannot change, He can and will as you trust Him.

When you really believe that He--not fate or other people—is in charge of your life, there comes a quiet confidence that He will get you through someway, somehow.

Most of our concerns and worries center around two major fears: What could happen (but probably won't) and what has happened which you are powerless to change. In the days when he was a circuit-riding lawyer, Abraham Lincoln accompanied by several colleagues crossed several rivers which were swollen by spring rains. Ahead, though, was the big one—the Fox River, and it worried them. "If we are having trouble getting across these, how are we going to get across that one?" they reasoned.

That evening they stopped at the log cabin of a settler who offered them his hospitality. Yes, the man knew the country. Yes, he had crossed the dangerous Fox River many times. Learning this, they quickly probed the man with questions.

"I know all about the Fox River," he told them, adding, "I have crossed it often and understand it well. But I have one fixed rule with regard to the Fox River. I never cross it till I reach it."

When you are where God wants you and you know that He is your Shepherd who will take you across the river and through the dark valley, you can let Him take the night shift, and go to sleep. Make it a practice to never cross the river until you get there.

Resource reading: Matthew 6.