Thought for the Day - Friday 13 November

Thought for the Day Friday 13th November Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matthew 6: 27) When my son was 4/5 years old, his gran and papa took him to Ayr for the day. As so often happens on a crowded beach, they got separated and panic ensued with the adults. However, my son was, even at that age, quite practical and went to a wee hut where he had spotted two policemen. He duly reported that his gran and papa were lost and could they (the police) help him to find them. Needless to say gran and papa, in their alarm, had forgotten the policemen and were running here and there asking people if they had seen a wee boy, describing what he was wearing. Of course, nobody had seen him, so they were in as much of a panic about coming home to tell his dad and I that they had lost our son. Finally, someone pointed them towards the police point. They made their way there, ‘sweating buckets and pleading with God’ as we were told later. They were well and truly told off for ‘getting lost’ and to take more care to stay close to their wee grandson because he had more sense than them. Gran and papa hadn’t added an hour to their lives by worrying, what they did say though was, they both felt as if they had aged years. Grandson, not at all worried, said it was okay because he was told at Sunday school that God loves the little children so he would find papa. After all, God wouldn’t want him to be stuck in Ayr without us, because that would make him sad. So he knew he would ‘find’ his gran and papa because, ‘how would I get home without them’. How many of us give in to worry? I know I have had times when I couldn’t see what my next step should be, worry has taken over my life to the extent that I can hardly function. It can sometimes take a wee while to realise that even a wee prayer can help. Even just saying, “Lord, please help me”, is prayer enough. When you put a worry into God’s hands it’s off your shoulders. I still can’t help thinking that God had a hand in my son remembering the policemen that day. It has also stuck with me that gran finally thought about God to help, although I don’t know if it was a conscious thought or instinct. Of course I thanked God profusely for bringing them home safely. I’m just glad I didn’t know about it till they got home. Prayer Loving God May we all be more like the little children, knowing that we don’t need to worry because you have everything under control for our good. Our problem often is, we sometimes forget to come to you first for the help we need but try to solve problems ourselves. Amen NOT THE FRIDAY QUIZ Think about all the times you may have made yourself ill with worry. Did you finally turn to God for help?