Don't Be Too Anxious

This getting older business is beginning to put a damper on my plans to slow down a little and lead a quieter lifestyle. I’m beginning to realize that the adage, the older you get the faster time goes by, has some credence to it. On the other hand it could have something to do with my recently adapted attitude of putting off today what can be done tomorrow and discovering now I have twice as much to do today. I’ve also discovered that a short afternoon nap has a tendency to quickly and quietly dissolve an hour of unproductive time. Oh well, I figure I’ve paid my dues and find it comforting that I don’t have to be working out in the freezing cold and rain or one hundred degree summer afternoons anymore, unless I want to. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking for work as I still have plenty to do every day, its just one gets the feeling there’s not enough time to do it all. Probably the biggest damper on getting things done is health maintenance. I reckon it’s the same for most of us over 60. It comes natural as the years fly by that we seem to be receiving more business cards from doctors than Christmas card from friends. I find it hard to plan too far ahead anymore because an appointment with a specialist is more valuable than spending the day doing what should have been done yesterday, but then again an appointment in the big city generally develops into a lunch date with my spouse. We had fun last week. I had a sore on my nose that would never completely heal looked at and biopsied a few weeks back which turned out to be a basal cell cancer needing further treatment. With my worried wife in tow off we went to another specialist an hour’s drive to the other side of the big city. The consult appointment turned out to be a surgical procedure to dig out the bad stuff, stretching my nose skin over the hole and suturing it all together again in an attempt to preserve my good looks as best as possible. I didn’t expect to have the surgery that day but welcomed it as it saves another trip to Egypt and back. The whole thing is done with a local anesthetic and Valium is offered to reduce anxiety if there is an alternative driver available. My wife refuses to drive in the big city anymore and besides, I’m a guy; I don’t need no stinkin’ drugs. I told the doctor to give the Valium to my wife because I could see her anxiety level on the rise like she was the one about to have the procedure. (She always worries). Safe to say, cancer free, for now. Hurray!

[1 Peter 5:6-7; John 14:6] When it comes to our physical health we’re all a little anxious as to what might be wrong and what might have to be done to correct the abnormality. Added to the scheme of it all is the fact that we must be referred to one doctor then another and sometimes even more before we get a good diagnosis and final cure treatment, building to an anxiety crescendo for some people. Even though I know the local anesthetic will work and I’ll feel nothing, the brain is heightened with anticipation ready to react, thus a dose of Valium is offered for quieting the urge to faint dead away, or run away as in my wife’s case. I will admit to a small bit of anxiety, but my faith in the surgeon and the thought that my God has sent me to a good place for treatment is calming enough for me. Did I say God sent me there? Yes. I believe that my God is active in every part of my messed up life because He loves me and cares for me. I have this calming assurance because other believers brought me to Christ, and it’s through Jesus I enjoy the peace that only God can give (Philippians 4:4-7).