Just Relax

I love watching winter sports. I'm especially fond of watching the Winter Olympics (which are coming up in February, by the way), but when the Olympics aren't on, there's always NBC Universal Sports. During the winter months, they've got an assortment of skiing, ski jumping, curling, skating, bobsled, and luge, so there's always something interesting to watch.

Yeah, I said curling was interesting. You got a problem with that? No? Good. I didn't think so.

Anyway, today while I was eating lunch, I watched the women's luge finals from Königssee, Germany. If you've never watched luge before, you should be ashamed of yourself, because it's one of the wildest and craziest sports on the planet---no joke.

A luge track is typically about three quarters of a mile long, and it's a steep downhill run. There are lots of sharp turns. Oh yeah---and the whole thing is covered with ice. The slippery kind.

A luger starts at the top of the track with a luge sled, which is basically just a fancy toboggan. Once they push off from the start, they lay flat on the luge and steer it down the track. And they do it going about seventy miles an hour

A steep downhill track. Ice. Hairpin turns. A sled. Interstate speed. I told you it was nuts! Here's a picture of some guy making a luge run at the 2006 Winter Olympics:

As you can see from the picture, there's not a whole lot of protection for the luger---just a helmet and some goggles. If the person on the sled makes a miscalculation and they flip over, they hit the ice (which is hard) going about seventy miles an hour. I've never done that before, but I can't imagine it would be much fun.

When I was watching the luge finals at lunch today, I chuckled at something one of the commentators said. The commentator, who was a former luge athlete, emphasized the importance of staying relaxed on the sled. The more a luger relaxes, the faster they go down the track.

I've made a run down a luge track before (in a bobsled, though, not on a luge sled), and I've got the pictures to prove it. It was an exhilarating experience. It was wild. It was crazy. It was probably stupid. It was even kind of fun. But was it relaxing? No! Definitely not!

Think about it: you're going down a steep, icy track at seventy miles an hour on a sled, and the whole time you're weaving through sharp twists and turns. You know full well that if you make a mistake, you'll hit the hard, cold ice, and you know that it'll hurt. And you're supposed to relax while you're doing it?!? No thanks. Not for me!

Hats off to all the luge athletes out there. Anyone who can relax under that kind of pressure deserves some serious kudos.

*     *     *     *     *

I think it would be safe to say that most folks would have a tough time staying relaxed while going down a luge track at full speed, and that's understandable. Certain things are more relaxing than others. Playing with one of those Zen gardens with the sand and the little rake is naturally relaxing. Zipping down an icy halfpipe at seventy miles an hour isn't.

Just as most people would have trouble staying relaxed during a luge run, I think that a lot of Christians have a hard time staying relaxed when life starts to get hectic.

And in this day and age, it doesn't take much to make things hectic. If you're anything like me, you're often faced with the dilemma of having too much stuff to do and not enough time to do it. That gets to be worrisome after a while.

Lots of other things tend to bring about worry. Maybe you're not doing as well as you'd like at school. Perhaps your company is downsizing and you think you might lose your job. Maybe you're habitually late like me and you're always worried about whether you'll be on time.

Suffice it to say that there are lots of things to get worried about---so many that making a list would be pointless. The important thing is that as humans, we tend to worry about things when they don't go our way. As Christians, though, we don't have to worry. Check out what Jesus had to say about being worried:

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

"And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Matthew 6:25-27, 34 (ESV)

According to Jesus, we have no business worrying about the necessities of life. Just as God feeds the birds and clothes the flowers, He provides food and clothing for us. It's interesting that Jesus points out that worrying isn't healthy; stress doesn't add years to anyone's life, and that's a proven fact.

Okay. So God has the necessities covered. I don't need to worry about those. But what about other things? What about my big English paper? What about that job interview? What does the Bible have to say about getting worried about those things?

Good question, Chris. I'm glad you asked. The Bible has quite a bit to say about worrying, actually. In Philippians 4:6, Paul says that we should be anxious about nothing and take everything to God in prayer. Psalm 55:22 tells us to cast our cares on the Lord, and 1 Peter 5:7 echoes that sentiment.

I think one of the biggest reasons that we as Christians have such a hard time with worrying is that we forget God is in control. We forget that God works in all circumstances---both the good and the bad---for our good (Romans 8:28). Instead of trusting in God, we trust in our own limited abilities, and when we fail, we're disappointed.

God will never disappoint you. He'll never let you down. Like a loving Father, He always has your well-being in mind and He'll always be there to help you through the stressful times. Rely on Him instead of on yourself; you'll be much better off in His hands than in your own.

Luge athletes are able to optimize their performance on the track by staying relaxed. In the same way, we as Christians are able to live up to our potential by relaxing and trusting in God. Instead of trying to handle things ourselves, we need to let go of the reigns and hand them over to the Lord.

If you don't have control of the situation, don't worry, because God does.