Bananas and Spiders

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:25-34 ESV). I recently read a story about a hobo who traveled from town to town by stealing rides in railroad cars. One night, the hobo slipped into an empty banana car. He lay down on a pile of straw and dropped off to sleep. Soon he was awakened by something crawling on his face and hands. He brushed it away, but the crawling continued. At last he sprang to his feet, more annoyed than afraid. The hobo fumbled in his pockets for a match, and found only one. He struck the match and held it aloft until it burned his fingers. He was too frightened to be aware of the pain because of what he saw: the straw was alive with tarantulas! When the match went out and the darkness fell upon him, the hobo sprang for the door, only to find it locked. He then frantically pounded on the door until his fists were bloody. But there was no response to his pounding. When the door was opened the next morning, the hobo was out of his mind. His mental and emotional breakdown was not caused by physical pain, for not one spider had harmed him. He was driven mad by fear. Though it's hard to admit, like the hobo, fear has a profound impact on many of us. But our fear is not caused by spiders. Instead, it arises from things like difficulties at work, troubled relationships with others, and our own shortcomings. These things have consequences that we fear, so we worry about them. You may not be like the hobo, who frantically pounded on a door until his hands dripped with blood. But if you allow things to eat at you inside, you too will experience severe mental and emotional damage. A Jewish proverb says that "Worms eat you when you're dead; worries eat you when you're alive." Are worry, fear and other destructive feelings unnecessarily robbing you of daily happiness? Consider the message in this poem about a "conversation" in an orchard: Said the Robin to the Sparrow, "I should really like to know Why these anxious human beings Rush about and hurry so." Said the Sparrow to the Robin, "Friend, I think that it must be That they have no Heavenly Father Such as cares for you and me." Don't bottle emotions up inside where they can consume you. Instead, follow the approach of the Robin and the Sparrow. Recognize that Someone cares for you. That Someone is God, the Creator and Sustainer of this universe. Care for yourself by looking to Him.