Monday, January 28, 2008

Worry

What is it about worry that "worries"us so much?! I must admit in my brief time here on this earth I have only met a handful of people who don't worry. I believe that as an expert in the field of "worry" I can comment on the matter with the utmost confidence.

We worry for many reasons but here are a few.
1. Control: We realize that in life we can only control a few things and most of the control centers around things that matter the most to us.
2. Un-forgiveness: We say things we sometimes mean and "don't mean" which end up hurting the ones we love or are in the process of befriending. We also have had things said to us which float in the same "river" which ultimately bring us to a place of anger and frustration which will lead us back to worry.
3. Self-Love/Confidence: We live our lives believing that society or other "important people" that we are not measuring up to the "best" people out there. Whatever that means?! This causes us to worry about how we will ever meet the demands which are placed on out shoulders. A new house, car, love, you fill in the blank.

Now these are only three things that can bring worry knocking on our door of our minds. Minds...yes that's it! We worry because we let our minds lose the war against the lies of the world. Now I must interject there are times that we worry for "real" reasons but that kind of worry should be short-lived and replaced by peace. Now back to the "mind thing," how can we win the battle of worry in our minds?

The Bible is God's words to us to combat all that this life will throw at us. So here are a few helpful versus.

Matthew 6:
25-27 (NLT) “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

Phillipians 4:6-7 (NLT) Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

These are only two of many places in the Bible where God addresses worry. The reason worry is so destructive is because it takes our eyes from God and places them on ourselves. We will never have the resources that God has in dealing with life. According to the Bible God has already prepared us for this life a long time ago.

So what do you say? Can we lay it down and let God help us chip away at worry? I am going to try. How about you? God loves you guys and longs to see us live as sons of God!