Words on worry & wisdom
I added a motivation app to the home screen of my Apple Watch. There, in letters too tiny for me to read without pulling my glasses from their perch on my head, I find tiny gems of wisdom that refresh randomly throughout the day.
“It doesn’t get easier, you get better.”
“Don’t be afraid of being a beginner.”
“My forte is awkwardness.”
That last one, credited to the comedian Zach Galifianakis, made me chuckle. Some others have seemed perfectly timed amid what can be the craziness of my day. But one recent update made me stop.
My watch told me:
“It’s okay to worry—it means you care.”
That might seem true enough when read through the filter of our high-pressure society. Work harder. Hustle more. Worry, because it shows you care.
The problem is: it completely goes against what we’re taught in scripture. There, we find a different call.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” - Philippians 4:6
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
Worry, with all due respect to my Apple Watch, just isn’t part of God’s plan for our lives. He wants what’s best for us and teaches us that it’s not like our worrying changes anything.
Look at what Jesus said in Luke 12:22-26:
Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
Have you ever looked up the definition of worry?
As a verb it means “give way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.”
And the noun form sheds even more light: “a state of anxiety and uncertainty over actual or potential problems.”
Did you catch that? We can worry over potential problems! How often do I spend time worrying about things that haven’t and won’t even happen? If I’m honest, it’s been way too often.
So, why am I calling out my watch in this public forum? Because this is such a perfect little example of how the enemy twists things. He asked Eve in the garden, “Did God really say…?” and with the craftiest of twists got her to doubt God’s goodness. So, if I start seeing worry as a sign that I care—that’s a good thing right? Not at all.
Because it’s not.
Worry is a clear sign that we’re focusing too much on our troubles and not enough on the God who loves us and promises to be with us through whatever we are facing.
For now, I’m keeping the app on my watch, but when those messages appear, I will reach for my spiritual glasses before I grab my readers. I want to be sure I’m keeping God’s word and his will for my life ahead of the cheeky advice of the day even if it’s delivered directly to my wrist.
