Is it a lack of faith if we worry?
Fr. Jim Van Vurst, OFM, gives advice for this common stressful concern.
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The question above is one that I’m sure many good and faithful Christians may have asked themselves. The logic that raises its head at times of serious stress is that “If I had faith (or “more faith”) I would just put things in God’s hands and go about my business.” Once again, simple logic does not always apply in our relationship with God. But let me answer the question above with a very direct answer. “NO!!! It is not a sign of a lack of faith when we worry!”
The reason is that true faith is NOT centered in our feelings and emotions but rather in our heart which is the deepest part of our being. Every person on earth knows that you don’t control or stop the experience of emotions by an act of the will. For example, if you are about to undergo serious surgery for cancer or tricky triple by-pass heart surgery, the most normal thing in the world is for our emotions to ramp up and let themselves be known and felt. Actually, it is the emotions that warn that we, or our loved ones, may be in danger. And if we actually know the danger, e.g. the surgery mentioned above, then emotions of fear and worry are the way the body was created to act. Fear can impel us to avoid certain dangers … except if there is no way to avoid this serious surgery or situation.
We can be most grateful for the experience of Jesus in the Garden of Olives at the time of his approaching passion. Yes, Jesus was divine and yet experienced his life through his human nature. And he faced a horrible future. Remember Jesus had seen Roman executions and realized what he would face since he knew once arrested he was already a convicted and doomed man. But notice what Jesus himself experienced. Was it worry? You bet it was and you can include fear also. And it came to the point where he asked Father to “let this suffering pass him by!” And his fear was so great that Luke, the physician tells us that “His sweat became drops of blood.” (Lk. 22:54) Does not mean Jesus was weak? Surely not. It does mean and reassures us that Jesus knows our own human experience, both of joy but also of fear and worry. In the end, Jesus was brave but that bravery should never let us conclude that the scourging and prospect of the nails in his hands and feet were not a frightening prospect.
You can be sure that any martyr will experience fear and yet determine in his will and intention he will follow the circumstances that lay before him. We do the martyrs a real disservice if we minimize their struggles and their human fear of what lay ahead of them. After all, there is no mother or father who loves their children who has not experienced worry and lost sleep over them as they grew up and begin to make their own choices, friends and practices. That’s part of the experience of parenthood.
What is the answer? One … is not to treat the natural fear and other emotions as a sign of lack of faith. Second, as Jesus did, continue to pray and assist those loved ones though they may make the worry worse by refusing assistance or help.
Actually, to pray and trust in God in the midst of fearful and worrisome feelings is a sign of great faith itself.
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Pray for others who have also posted their needs and concerns at View Prayer Concerns.
St. Anthony was devoted to prayer to the Lord, read his words at St. Anthony Prayers.
Posted in: Newsletter, Prayer, Saint Anthony, Saint Francis, Senior Friars
