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Measuring Life by Donation, Not Duration
Monday, June 18, 2018
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? . . . Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matt. 6:25-27, NIV.
The phone was ringing incessantly. I ran into the room and picked it up. It was my hypochondriac friend, Tina. She sounded distracted and distant. My "Hi, how are you?" let loose a dam of woes.
"Oh terrible!" she responded weakly. "I guess my days are numbered. I have had no appetite for weeks. My stomach feels bloated, and I burp frequently. I have also been losing weight. I'm quite certain I have cancer of the stomach."
"Don't worry, Tina. I think there is nothing wrong with you."
"Sure there is," she insisted. "I even feel nauseated at times. I'm pretty sure I have cancer of the stomach. In fact, I have made an appointment with a specialist to have a gastroscopy on Monday, and I dread what the results will show."
Tina went for the tests, but as I expected, the tests found nothing wrong with her stomach. With this new assurance of her well-being, she regained her appetite and weight.
Then a couple months later Tina was again experiencing the same symptoms—effects of her anxiety over her suspicion that she had another form of cancer. So went the catalog of suspected ailments for as long as I could remember: cancer of the lungs, breast, brain, etc. Each required an X-ray to prove to herself that she had nothing wrong with her before she could take control of herself.
How well the Lord knows our problems when He admonishes us not to be anxious about our life, for ironically, worrying will cut rather than lengthen our life span.
When tempted to be anxious about our life, it will do us well to adopt the attitude of the renowned minister Peter Marshall, who said: "When the clock strikes for me, I shall go, not one minute early, and not one minute late. Until then, there is nothing to fear. I know that the promises of God are true. . . . The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation" (The Best of Peter Marshall, p. xiii).
How are you measuring your life? Is it by duration, or donation? Try giving a little more to the needs of others and worrying a little less about your own, and see what it will do for your health.
The phone was ringing incessantly. I ran into the room and picked it up. It was my hypochondriac friend, Tina. She sounded distracted and distant. My "Hi, how are you?" let loose a dam of woes.
"Oh terrible!" she responded weakly. "I guess my days are numbered. I have had no appetite for weeks. My stomach feels bloated, and I burp frequently. I have also been losing weight. I'm quite certain I have cancer of the stomach."
"Don't worry, Tina. I think there is nothing wrong with you."
"Sure there is," she insisted. "I even feel nauseated at times. I'm pretty sure I have cancer of the stomach. In fact, I have made an appointment with a specialist to have a gastroscopy on Monday, and I dread what the results will show."
Tina went for the tests, but as I expected, the tests found nothing wrong with her stomach. With this new assurance of her well-being, she regained her appetite and weight.
Then a couple months later Tina was again experiencing the same symptoms—effects of her anxiety over her suspicion that she had another form of cancer. So went the catalog of suspected ailments for as long as I could remember: cancer of the lungs, breast, brain, etc. Each required an X-ray to prove to herself that she had nothing wrong with her before she could take control of herself.
How well the Lord knows our problems when He admonishes us not to be anxious about our life, for ironically, worrying will cut rather than lengthen our life span.
When tempted to be anxious about our life, it will do us well to adopt the attitude of the renowned minister Peter Marshall, who said: "When the clock strikes for me, I shall go, not one minute early, and not one minute late. Until then, there is nothing to fear. I know that the promises of God are true. . . . The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation" (The Best of Peter Marshall, p. xiii).
How are you measuring your life? Is it by duration, or donation? Try giving a little more to the needs of others and worrying a little less about your own, and see what it will do for your health.
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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