Worrying About The Wrong Stuff

A few weeks ago, I attended the retirement celebration of the Reverend Dr. Lawerence Edward Carter, Sr.

For the past 50 years, Dean Carter has served as Professor of Religion and the founding Dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. “Dean,” as we Morehouse alums affectionately call him, is a legend. He is probably responsible for shepherding the vocations of more African American Pastors than anyone else in the country.

Dean's impact on my life has been incalculable. Not only did he challenge my thinking, sharpen my gifts, and heal my wounds, he also gifted me with a $10,000 scholarship to help complete my education. And I am not alone. So thousands of his former students converged on the Morehouse campus to pay tribute to his amazing legacy.

The keynote speaker for the occasion was my classmate, The Reverend Dr. Raphael Gamaliel Warnock, the esteemed Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and the junior Senator from the state of Georgia. Like so many of us, Dr. Warnock has a vast trove of “Dean Carter” stories. During his address, he shared one that sent tremors through the auditorium. Dr. Warnock said that shortly after his arrival at Morehouse, he was invited to an event. The event was being held at a upscale venue and would be attended by many high profile people. Dr. Warnock wanted to attend, but he was afraid to. His fear was rooted in two factors. First, he was socially awkward. As the first person in his family to attend college, he felt unsure if he was sufficiently acquainted with the social graces to feel comfortable in that kind of environment. Second, he did not even own a suit! Dr. Warnock confessed that he was more embarrassed by the second factor than he was the first.

He decided to call Dean Carter to discuss his dilemma. And Dr. Warnock said that Dean Carter told him something that he never forgot, and actually altered the entire trajectory of his life. He said that Dean Carter looked at him in the eye and said “Son, where you are going, a suit is going to be the least of your concerns.” Dean Carter looked past the future Senator’s wardrobe and encourage the future Senator to do the same. At the time, all Dr. Warnock could see is what he didn’t have. Dean Carter saw what he would have, and help him to redirect his focus. He counts that conversation as one of the formative experiences of his life and ministry.

Like many of us, Dr. Warnock was worried about the wrong stuff. We can become so concerned about the present that we lose sight of the future. We can become so obsessed with what we’ve lost, that we lose sight of what we gained. We can become so focused on what we don’t have, that we lose sight of what we do have.

This is what happened to Joseph’s brothers. Joseph and his brothers all had the same father but they had different mothers. Their father loved Joseph’s mother most. As a result, he showered Joseph with attention, favor, and gifts. Among those gifts was a multicolored robe. That gift crystallized Joseph’s brothers’ hatred, and precipitated a devastating sequence of events. They stripped Joseph of his coat, sold him into slavery, faked his death, lied about what happened, and then went on about their business.

Twenty years later, a famine hit the ancient near east, and Joseph’s brothers’ travel to Egypt to buy food. They discover that their brother—the one who they had so horribly mistreated—is now the second most powerful person in the Government! Unbelievably, Joseph forgives them and tells them that God orchestrated the entire affair to preserve the family. After making this revelation, Joseph tells his brothers to return home and plan to relocate to Egypt. Then, in Genesis 45:20, he says to them:

Don’t worry about your personal belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.

Far too many of us are far too worried about “our personal belongings.” We focus on our personal feelings, our personal objectives, our personal budgets, our personal losses, and our personal failures. We fail to realize that “the best of all the land” is ours. God only has our best interests at heart. God is orchestrating the best possible outcome of our affairs. And God desires us to live our best possible lives.

Stop worrying about the suit, or the relationship, or the money, or the opportunity that you don’t have. Where God is taking you, those matters will be the least of your concerns. God is preparing to open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that you will not have room to receive!