Trouble

“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a good word cheers it up.” (Proverbs 12:25)

Currently, there is a commercial on TV about financial stress that features a fuzzy little white dog. The dog is worried about losing its bone. In the background a song is playing that features one word only: “trouble.” It goes, “Trouble. Trouble. Oh, trouble trouble trouble.” Over and over. With the song on-going, the dog first buries the bone to protect it, but he’s still worried, so he goes and digs it up and takes it to the bank and puts it in a safety deposit box. But he has nightmares about that and goes to retrieve it and bring it back home. At the end of the commercial the dog’s anxiety is resolved by trusting its bone a particular company. Cute. Not real.

Anxiety, worry, frustration, trouble, stress – however you term it – that reaches down into the heart can weigh a man or woman down. It feels heavy, and it hurts. The “heart-hurt” from anxiety is very real and can ultimately take its toll on us. But a good word from someone, some good news, can cheer up a heavy heart. This is a proverb from Solomon, and it’s safe to assume that he learned this from personal experience.

Today, maybe you can be the one to deliver a good word to someone who is weighed down by anxiety.

Lord, Put a good word in our hearts and mouths today that we can share with someone who needs to hear it. Amen.