Connection Magazine, The Premier Good News Publication www.connectionmagazine.org

I love my HDTV, CD, VCR but EIEIO.
by Bill Martin

It's been a year, as they say. I'm not here to look back though. Instead I want to look forward.

Most of you will see or have seen the TV and radio reports of the year's top stories. There's enough bad news to go around and around and around.

I want to talk about relaxing. You remember the hit song, "Don't Worry be Happy".

Now, if you want a confession, I've got one. I'm a worrier (at to some degree). I'm also getting gray hair and when people tell me about "God's time" I want to smack them. Which is why I need to write about "worry".

Did you know Studies indicate that a positive outlook offers protection against developing heart disease?

Robert Carney, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology in the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis says "There is clearly a mind-body problem in much of medicine, and there are major physiological changes that result when people are depressed."

Researchers also report that clinical depression may be as big a risk factor as cigarette smoking, elevated cholesterol, or high blood pressure. Well guess what, my cholesterol is elevated.

"Proverbs 12:25 says "An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.

Actually my expanding waistline is weighing me down but lets turn to the book of Luke Chapter 12 vs. 22-34.

Before we dig into the scripture, I can't begin to tell you the number of people I know who are having serious job issues. Two friends have been demoted. Still others have been downsized. A few left their jobs because they couldn't take it anymore. So let's get to the good news for the New Year.

Jesus says: Worry ignores God's faithfulness (vs. 22-24) because life does not consist of material possessions. Look, I love my HDTV, CD, VCR but EIEIO. It's just stuff.

Worrying does nothing for you (vs. 25-26). It doesn't accomplish anything but make you miserable. I know people who can't sleep at night because of worry. One of my doctor friends is getting rich on people with reflux (severe indigestion).

Worry ignores God's love (vs. 27-31) because you can't live one day longer by worrying. I want to see my kids grow up, fall in love and get married. Worry simply takes years off of your life.

And worry ignores the present (vs. 32). You are to always trust in God.

One thing I'm learning (sometimes the hard way) that God has the plan and I don't.

Dr. Gary R. Collins writes in Christian Counseling, "According to the Bible, there is nothing wrong with realistically acknowledging and trying to deal with the identifiable problems of life. To ignore danger is foolish and wrong. But it is also wrong, as well as unhealthy, to be immobilized by excessive worry. Such worry must be committed to prayer to God, who can release us from paralyzing fear or anxiety, and free us to deal realistically with the needs and welfare both of others and of ourselves.

If you're going to look at the nightly news only through serious eyes you will miss the beauty around you. The great grandmother who turns one hundred with a whirlwind birthday party. The child thought lost, adopted into a loving home. How about the enjoying the simplicity of a warm, sunny day or a raise and promotion at work. You just might enjoy a kiss and a hug from your wife or husband with an, "I love you".

God is great. God is faithful and God will help you to see more than just the circumstance. Have a blessed 2003.

Bill Martin is a multiple winner of Emmy and Associated Press Awards for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism. He was also inducted into the Ohio Television/Radio Hall of Fame in 1999.

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