Let Saturday Worry About Itself, by Tyler Smith

Listeners of my other podcast know that I’m going to be co-hosting a live comedy show this Saturday night. It’s something that David, my BP co-host, and I have been trying to get off the ground for well over a year. We were excited to do it… when it wasn’t going to happen. In theory, it would be a lot of fun.

Now here we are, with the live show two days away, and the worry that I feel is almost overwhelming. Will the performers show up? How big will the audience be? How will David and I perform? Will we get any laughs at all? What if somebody heckles us? These questions- often accompanied by many others- have been swirling around in my head for over a month. As the date draws closer, I find my heart rate skyrocketing just thinking about it.

Of course, most everything has fallen into place, to the point where there aren’t a lot of variables left. The performers have confirmed, we’ve gotten a nice amount of publicity, David and I have worked out a basic show structure.

Oh, and, if somebody heckles us, we have the authority to have them kicked out. I’ve never had that kind of power before. I almost want to order somebody removed just on principle.

Anyway, despite things starting to solidify, the worry remains. There will be so many opportunities to screw up. Some people are exhilarated by this prospect, I am not; this is exactly why I took little joy in doing live theatre. The pressure mounts and mounts until I am totally unable to enjoy it while it’s happening. Right now, I find myself just waiting for it to be over.

As stated on the podcast, I have certain trust issues. I have a hard time trusting God that things will work out, even though they usually do. The Bible has instructed us to “let tomorrow worry about itself” and asks who, “by worrying, can add a single hour to his life?” We are told to “cast all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you.”

Admittedly, I have a hard time casting certain anxieties upon God, because I sometimes convince myself that they’re too small for Him to care about. I’m worried about my comedy show that’s being performed in the backroom of a comic book store; it doesn’t get much smaller than that, really. Why in the world would God give such a thing a second look?

But the verse in 1 Peter doesn’t say that we should cast only some of our anxiety on Him, nor does it say that we should only come to God about big things, like marriage issues or money troubles. It says that we are to cast all our anxieties on God.

So, I guess that God, for whatever reason, actually does care about my dumb comedy show. This realization should give me pause and allow me to finally relax, but I’m sure that sometime in the next 48 hours, I’m going to fall right back into my default position of panic. So, for those of you who pray, I would certainly appreciate your prayers, not only that the show goes well, but that- more importantly- I can stop worrying about it and leave it in God’s hands. Because, if I can’t trust God with this fairly innocuous event, what hope do I have of trusting Him with the big stuff?