Leave the Rest to God
There once was a wise old farmer who lived in a village. All he had in the world was a horse, his son, and a small piece of land. One night a storm came through the village and spooked his horse. The horse broke through the fence and ran away. The next day all the villagers came to the farmer saying “Oh, how unlucky! What will you do? Your only horse has run away!” But the farmer simply replied, “We’ll see.” About a week later the horse returned. But he was not alone. He came back leading 5 other wild horses! The villagers all came singing praises. “You are so lucky! You are now the richest man in the village!” But the farmer simply replied, “We’ll see.” The next day, as the farmer’s son was trying to tame the new wild horses he was bucked off and broke his leg. The villagers came once again saying, “Oh what terrible fate. Your only helper and son is injured. You are so unlucky.” Again the farmer simply replied, “We’ll see.” A week later, the region fell under attack and the military came door to door looking for young men to fight but seeing the farmer’s son with his broken leg, they moved on to the next house.
We currently live in a time where stress and worry are abundant. We have more free time to fill and we have incredible opportunities at our fingertips. But with freedom and infinite choices comes constant worry and regret. Did I make the right choice? Should I have done it differently? What do they think of me? We constantly fret and over analyze our lives so much so that it wrecks our health. Stress and worry put us in a state of chronic “fight or flight” where our immune systems shut down, our digestive and reproductive systems turn off, and our blood pressure, breath and heart rate skyrocket.
But often the things that we are so worried about we have zero control over. You cannot control the traffic so why would we allow it to take even a moment of joy from our lives?? The problem is that we can never have a full perspective. We cannot know the future. So what may seem like the worst thing ever today, becomes your saving grace tomorrow – just like the farmer losing his one horse. The situation that would ultimately save his son from dying in battle could have sent him into a dark depression. What if the traffic you ran into kept you from getting a speeding ticket? We will never know and that’s the whole point! We can never know what might have happened or what will happen in the future. So the best thing we can do is to only focus on the things we can control and recognize that God is in control of the rest. The Bible tells us, “Do not worry” or “Do not fear”, over 365 times. Someone really wants to drive home the point that it will all be okay in the end. Even if your world is falling apart all around you, even if you’re stuck in traffic and running late, God is still in control and your future is secured.
So today, focus only on what you can control and leave the rest to God.
In Health and Faith,
Dr. Marc
