Hakuna Matata

When I get out of the center of God’s will I find myself worrying a lot about life. I worry about rather or not I am doing the thing God would have me to do at this moment. I worry about whether or not I need to be changing and doing something else. I worry about my children. Are they getting what they deserve from me? Am I giving them enough of myself? I worry about my marriage. Am I demonstrating my love enough to my wife? Am I giving her enough of my attention? I even find myself questioning my role in ministry. I tell myself that I could be doing something else. I could be going down another career path. One where I would not have to carry it home every evening. I know when I am living outside of God’s will because the worry factor goes up and I have more restless nights and more wasteful days trying to figure out the future.
We all have a tendency to worry. We worry about our careers. We worry about our children. We worry about our future. We worry about past mistakes coming back to haunt us. We worry about making the house payment. We worry about insurance bills. We worry about the economy. We worry about the war. Another word for worry is “anxious” and comes from the idea of being distracted. Worry distracts us from the task of living in the moment. It takes away our attention from the moment. It creates a preoccupation of our mental and physical powers with the things that are beyond our control. The more time we spend worrying, the less time we spend doing what needs to be done. Worry is misguided in its focus. It is an impractical and meaningless activity. By worrying about tomorrow we leave unfilled the tasks of the today. Worrying makes the cares of the future take precedent over the necessity of today.
Over the past month how many of us have worried over something or someone? Worry is an enemy. Worry is a reversal of priorities. It is a signal that we are not striving after the reign of God in our life on a daily basis.
In his book First Things First, Stephen Covey tells the story of a man teaching a time-management seminar. In order to make a point, the man pulled a wide-mouthed gallon jar from under the counter that served as his podium. He picked up some fist-sized rocks and put them in the jar. Then he looked out at the class and asked, “Is the jar full?”
Some of the students, not knowing where he was going, blurted out, “Yes.” The teacher laughed gently and said, “No, it’s not.” He pulled out a bucket of pea gravel and began to pour it in the jar. The class watched as the pea gravel filtered down between the rocks, filling the spaces until it reached the top. “Now, is the jar full?”
The class was a bit reluctant to answer. After all, they’d been wrong before. Instead of waiting for their response, the man poured a bucket of sand down among the pea gravel and the large rocks. He shook the jar gently to let the sand settle, then added more, until finally the sand reached the mouth of the jar. Then he asked again, “Is the jar full?” Andy they said, “Probably not.”
Now the teacher reached for a pitcher of water and slowly poured the water in the jar. It filtered down until it was running out of the jar at the top. “Is the jar full?” the time-management consultant asked. The class answered, “We think it is.”
“Okay, class,” he said. “What is the lesson in this visual aid?” Somebody in the back raised his hand and said, “No matter how busy your life is, there is always room for more!” “No,” the teacher said as the class broke into laughter. “That’s not it!” “The lesson is, class,” he said when the chuckles subsided, “if you don’t put the big rocks in first you’ll never get them in later.”
What a powerful picture of priority living. It sounds like the same point Jesus was attempting to make when he said, “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”[1]
[1] Story taken from Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver, pg. 103.