Leave worries to Jesus

Even kids have worries. It's easy to scare yourself, wondering what might happen in the future. You worry about who would take care of you if your parents died, what will happen if there's a war someday or how you'll pay for everything since your dad lost his job.

All your worries can seem so big and scary that you don't know what to do about them. Jesus understood that -- and in this week's Gospel (Mark 4:35-41), He reminds us that no matter what happens, God will always be there to take care of us.

"The Apostles were out on a boat with Jesus when a terrible storm began. Jesus was asleep, but they woke Him up, crying, "Teacher! We're going to drown!" Jesus yelled at the storm: "Quiet! Be still!" Suddenly, everything was calm. Jesus turned to His followers and said, "Why are you afraid? Don't you have faith in God?" They were amazed at what Jesus had done.

When you think too much about all the things that might happen to you someday, it's easy to feel scared. What if something bad happens and you can't do anything about it? Jesus' followers must have felt that way in the storm. They thought they were going to die, and they were VERY afraid!

If you stop thinking about bad things that might happen someday and just think about today, you'll probably start to feel better. The Apostles learned that lesson. All they could think of was getting hurt in the storm, but Jesus slept right through it! He knew God was taking care of all of them.

Whenever something bad happens, it's important to do what you can about it. Sometimes, you can give someone a hug; other times, all you can do is pray that things get better. When the Apostles called for Jesus to help them, He jumped right up and stopped the storm. That's good for us to remember, too: Even when we're scared about something and it seems like Jesus isn't paying attention, He knows what's going on -- and He'll jump right up to help us!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, teach me to pray to you whenever my worries are scaring me. Amen!

(06-19-97)

[[In-content Ad]]