Worrying Christians | Mark’s Remarks

Christians are supposed to set a good example. We are supposed to show others what trusting in God looks like, what faith looks like. Am I right?

Still, we must remind ourselves that we are human beings. As Christians, we still have a lot of struggles and we certainly fail quite often. Relying on God means we have to constantly be aware of our struggles, seek His guidance and pray for strength and understanding that can only come from Him.

I had an interesting conversation with someone the other day who is relatively new to the faith and is still learning a lot. Still, this person has been around “church folk” long enough to know you can’t always rely on people, no matter how “churched” they are. You are going to be disappointed if you think any of them are perfect or people you can always depend on just because they profess to be Christians.

Like I said, this person has been around long enough to have had quite a few interactions and serve on committees and experience all types of church folk. He has observed people and is intrigued by Christian folks. He has seen the diehards who have been around for years and has also encountered new and growing Christians who are still learning the ropes.

An interesting comment came out of his mouth: “You know, the more I’m around Christian folks, the more I wonder how we can profess to have a deep trust of God, a deep faith, and still be such worry warts about everything.”

That comment hit me like a ton of bricks, but then I started to think about it. It’s a fair comment. He wasn’t being malicious or snarky. He was asking a genuine question. He was making an observation I found myself having to agree with.

I started thinking about myself and how I fret and fuss about things all the time. I worry about the silliest things, often things I have very little power over. I’ve gone to therapy because I suffer from anxiety and I battle it daily. Still, I choose to worry and stress out over the dumbest things.

There are plenty of folks like me. Even in the middle of church, people worry. They worry about how things are going, how they look, what the music sounds like. They worry that they’ve offended someone.  They worry about relationships within the church family. They worry about the pastor and the church staff. They worry what people think of them. I could spend several pages listing the worries of folks who profess to be Christians and hold a deep faith in God.

Other than the fact that we are human, I really didn’t have a good answer for this guy. I mean, he is so right. How can people really talk about faith when they walk around worrying about every little thing?  Constantly.

Sometimes, worry consumes us.

So, why? Why do we worry so much when we still have faith? DO we have faith? Is it deep and genuine? Does having faith in God guarantee a worry free life? Should we worry that our faith isn’t deep enough?

I’ve listened to a lot of people and I hate to be sexist, but I’ve noticed ladies and mothers worrying more than most.  I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve felt like rolling my eyes at these church ladies, clucking around and worrying their head off.

Boy, will I get backlash for that paragraph. In their defense, mothers and ladies often have far more to worry about than most.

I can tell you a couple of things I know. Satan is at work constantly and the sin of worry creeps in and distracts us from the important stuff. Worry stifles our faith, our joy, our love and our peace.

I also know that as humans, we forget time and time again to rely on God. It’s human nature, and oh how I’ve wished that I could have some sort of faith switch that would automatically kick on when I’m at the depths of my humanness.

Wouldn’t such a switch be handy?

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Mark Tullis

Mark is a 25-year veteran teacher teaching in Columbia. Originally from Fairfield, Mark is married with four children. He enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with his family, and has been involved in various aspects of professional and community theater for many years and enjoys appearing in local productions. Mark has also written a "slice of life" style column for the Republic-Times since 2007.
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