The Best Solvent
An unknown sailor was concerned that so many of his friends were wasting time worrying. He wrote an article that appeared in his ship’s weekly newsletter in June 1942 with timely advice for any era:
Have you ever stopped to realize that the best solvent for worry is work? Throw yourself into your job, master its details and in addition to serving your ship and country better, you will be rewarded by contentment.
Work is healthy! You can hardly put more on a man than he can bear. But worry is rust upon the blade. It is not movement that destroys the machinery, but friction… many deaths are provoked chiefly by worry over matters which never repay the time wasted on them, and which breed a race of brooders prone to disease and death…
Be matter of fact: first get to the bridge, then cross it.
And meanwhile, don’t worry whether you get to the bridge or not.
What does your anxiety do? It does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; but it does empty today of its strength.117
Jesus proclaimed the same message during his Sermon on the Mount. He asked, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:27; Luke 12:25). The point is clear: worrying accomplishes nothing. It is a pointless mental activity that only distracts us from what we should be doing. With Jesus in our lives we can focus on the truly important things that can actually be accomplished, while lifting those other concerns to him.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
—Matthew 6:33–34