Suddenly, worry takes on a new significance. It worked well, except for one thing. His neighbor kept a cock that several times in the night and early in the morning would give way to vigorous crowing. When Carlyle protested to the owner of the cock, the man pointed out to him that the cock crowed only three times in the night, and that after all that could not be such a terrible annoyance. How we are robbed of joy by this business of worry.
People lose their effectiveness through the paralyzing effects of worry, anxiety, and apprehension.
Worry frustrates one's best functioning. Potentially worry is deadly. Robert Frost thought that the reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work. Jesus uses this very word picture of the destructive nature of worry in the parable of the sower. We find ourselves strangled spiritually, mentally harassed and emotionally strung out.