allergic reactions

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength. "
-Corrie Ten Boom


in honour of the first day of spring, my allergies have decided to come out and be a part of the festivities. a wonderful time of year as things warm up and live again... and my eyes begin to itch. lovely allergies.

what is an allergy anyway? Allergy: A misguided reaction to foreign substances by the immune system, the body system of defense against foreign invaders, particularly pathogens (the agents of infection). The allergic reaction is misguided in that these foreign substances are usually harmless. The substances that trigger allergy are called allergen. Examples include pollens, dust mite, molds, danders, and certain foods. People prone to allergies are said to be allergic or atopic. (from medicinenet.com)

after reading this, i realized that this applies to worry. is the worry we have a misguided reaction to something foreign in our lives that may just end up being harmless? it may just be.

i've used the "do not worry about your lives" verse here once or twice before but it serves being put up again:
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!" (matthew 6:25-30 nasb)

in other words- don't have misguided reactions to things that are of little importance. worry is inefficient. as corrie ten boom stated above: "it empties today of its strength". the allergies im dealing with right now are making my eyes itch, making me sneeze out of control and making me feel tired and drained. all this because there is pollen in the air that is intended to help the growth of spring vegetation- not kill me. but my body seems to think pollen is out to kill me so its spending all its valuable resources trying to keep any molecule of pollen at least 50 feet from me through violent blasts of air from nose.

worry does the same thing. it taxes all your resources in an effort to try to prevent something from happening that (1) you have no control over and (2) will not do what worry is telling you it will do to you. worry wont add a single minute to your day. worry really does nothing at all except leave you feeling tired and drained. it empowers events, people and things that currently have no power over your life to suddenly, inexplicably take complete control of your life.

are your worries driving you crazy? they drive me crazy all the time because i deal with worry alot. just like with allergies- the cure is fighting back. worry is one of your greatest enemies- its emptying your today of its strength. just like people take allergy medicine to fight their sneezing, we need to take our worry medicine. what cures a bad case of the worries?
“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing? ...for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (matthew 6:31-34 nasb)

the trick is to seek God first. how do we seek God? "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." (jeremiah 29:13 nasb) its going to require all of you to seek God. if you commit your resources and energy to seeking God, you'll have no resources left to use on worrying.

thats how you fight worry. God already knows that we will need what we are worrying we won't have. He knows. don't worry.