By: Iyo_Embong

ONE time while driving to the province with my nephews and nieces who were then still small, we happened to follow a tricycle carrying two pigs. I didn’t give it much thought until one of my nieces said: “Hey look how good the owner is to take his pigs around for a ride and for sightseeing!”

That very moment, I realized how “adult” I had become, seeing those pigs as nothing but dead meat, while my niece saw in them live tourists! I saw the owner as an impersonal user, while my niece saw him as a thoughtful father. We both saw the same reality, but we had two entirely different perceptions!

In Luke 10: 38-42, we hear of two sisters, Martha and Mary, who loved the same Lord, yet perceived to love and serve Him in two different ways. Martha loved the Lord with her SERVING, while Mary loved the Lord with her LISTENING and PRESENCE. The Lord ends up admonishing Martha not to be anxious or worried about many things, and going further, ends up with a twist, citing Mary as the one who has chosen the better part!

Like me, perhaps you must have thought that Jesus was unfair to Martha who had to do all the dirty work while Mary literally was just “sitting pretty.” I don’t know how this episode ended. Perhaps Martha got hurt or felt offended. Maybe she even organized a protest rally and so on. But the message is clear: God’s ways are not man’s ways. God sees bigger and broader than we. That being the case, we must continue to share His horizons. We must continue to see the “big picture” and not be glued to our little screens. In others words, we must not limit God, His love, His generosity, His wisdom and His providence.

What is a worrier? A worrier is a person who has lots of fears, insecurities, apprehensions in life and all that. But basically, a worrier is one who forgets who he is and who God is in his life. A worrier is simply one who lacks trust in God. In his desire to be in control of everything and of everyone (including himself), he forgets that there is a power greater than himself, and so he ends up with manipulation, accumulation, accommodation and even deception so that he can hold on and control. Not wanting to “lose his grip,” he’ll hold on to anything or to anyone instead of holding on to God.

God helps those who help themselves, right? Right! Act as if everything depended upon you, and pray as if everything depended upon God, right? Right again.

So what’s the problem? The problem is that we adults tend to exaggerate more the action part, “just in case.” And we proudly call that being mature, being grown-up and being practical, “just in case.” We look down on people who are so trusting, and see them as naïve, strange, or even stupid, like children. An adult surely can not be careless! But God is not asking us to be careless when we trust as adults. All He is asking us is that we care less, because He cares for us!

Someone said that 92 percent of what we worry about never really happens and the 8 percent usually is manageable, and that which happens was bound to happen. It was not within our control from the very start. Instead of worrying about it, why don’t you entrust what is bound to happen to God who has a reason, a plan (a good one) for anything that will happen? Don’t forget there is a bigger plan than your personal plans. That’s why it is called a MASTER PLAN. It is your Master’s plan. Some people have everything planned up – financial plan, health plan, vacation plan, retirement plan, memorial plan – but forget their Master’s plan in this life and in the life to come.

Most of our worries, whether real or imagined, stem from FEAR. The antidote to fear is not worry but TRUST. Don’t forget what someone proclaimed some 2,000 years ago about the birds in the air, and the flowers that bloom and His Father who takes care of them. How much more will He take care of us His daughters and sons. Fear is useless. What is needed is trust.

For those who are worried and keep worrying about their health, remember, none of us will leave this world alive! So, stop worrying! The more you worry about it, the more your health deteriorates.

Change of outlook is a big difference. But more than outlook, it’s the UPLOOK that really works!

You’re not happy? Maybe it is because you worry. So, don’t worry, be happy! Remember the song? Sing it. Don’t worry if you’re out of tune. Just sing, sing your song.

By: Iyo_Embong