Lesson #8 Worried? Just Add Oil

Worry.  There are quotes and sayings galore that justify worry as a mother’s right, a necessary component to her DNA, an unavoidable realism in her life.  But Jesus commanded us not to worry.  He gave strict orders to stop all that nonsense and trust Him.   Trust God.  Trust the Holy Spirit within us.

Even for a really good reason, worry does not change anything.  Worry does not help an outcome or a present situation.  There is no direct correlation to the amount of worry you stir up in your heart.  The formula does not equate:  the more I worry = the better things will get. 

No, worry instills greater fear. It perpetuates doubt.  It takes the candle of faith and blows it out.  It increases the darkness.  It backfires! 

Worry is fret.  Fret is like friction.  The way we demonstrate ‘fret’ in our body language really speaks the truth of how closely it resembles friction. When you are fretful and anxious, examine how your body responds.  Rubbing your face.  Wringing of hands.  Licking your lips.  Biting your nails. Pacing the floor. Tossing. Turning. Friction is a rubbing together of two dry items.  This creates heat.  And this heat can lead to dangerous things.

Ask any mechanic. They will tell you that friction is the enemy to a well running engine.  Things rub, heat increases, engine parts burn. Damage is done.  Engines can be repaired and replaced, but the good mechanic will shake his head at the waste.  They murmur, “All that was needed to keep things running smoothly for a long time was a little bit of oil” 

Maintenance. Check your oil. Fill up what is empty. Don’t let things heat up ‘til you crack or blow up. Don’t let the grain of sand rub you the wrong way. Someone was disrespectful, how dare they treat me that way!  It starts out little.  The mechanic knows that the oil usually leaks out drip by drip.  Let things go too long and it’s a big mess.

We find ourselves worried, nervous, anxious, fretting, troubled, and overwhelmed.  What can we do?  Answer: add oil.  The oil that is referred to in Psalm 23 (He anoints my head with oil) made a lot of sense to the early shepherds.  In his book, Philip Keller, a sheep herder in his day, eloquently described the powerful message of this oil.  Sheep bothered by tiny summer flies act a lot like people bothered by tiny annoyances.  In his words…

"For relief from this (summer flies) agonizing annoyance sheep will deliberately beat their heads against trees, rock, posts, or brush. They will rub them in the soil and thrash around against woody growth. In extreme cases of intense infestation a sheep may even kill itself in a frenzied endeavor to gain respite from the aggravation. Often advanced stages of infection from these flies will lead to blindness.

"...Only the strictest attention to the behavior of the sheep by the shepherd can forestall the difficulties of 'fly time.' At the very first sign of flies among the flock he will apply an antidote to their heads.

"I always preferred to use a homemade remedy composed of linseed oil, sulfur and tar which was smeared over the sheep's nose and head as a protection against nose flies.

"What an incredible transformation this would make among the sheep. Once the oil had been applied to the sheep's head there was an immediate change in behavior. Gone was the aggravation; gone the frenzy; gone the irritability and the restlessness. Instead, the sheep would start to feed quietly again, then soon lie down in peaceful contentment.

"This, to me is the exact picture of irritation in my own life. How easy it is for there to be a fly in the ointment of even my most lofty spiritual experience! So often it is the small, petty annoyances that ruin my repose.

"Just as with the sheep there must be continuous and renewed application of oil to forestall the 'flies' in my life, there must be a continuous anointing of God's gracious Spirit to counteract the every-present aggravations of personality conflicts. Only one application of oil, sulfur and tar was not enough for the entire summer. It was a process that had to be repeated. The fresh application was the effective antidote.”

This is the cure to all worry!  Ask the Lord to anoint your head with oil.  As often as the worries crop up.  Ask for His oil to relieve the friction, calm the spirit, and settle your heart.  He will!  And it does!