Norman
Vincent Peale said, “The word ‘worry’ is derived
from an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning to strangle
or to choke. How well named the emotion! It has
been demonstrated again and again in persons who
have lost their effectiveness due to the
stultifying effect of anxiety and apprehension.
A certain well-controlled care freeness may well
be an asset. Normal sensible concern is an
important attribute of the mature person. But
worry frustrates one’s best functioning.”
How
can we as Christians have victory over worry?
1. Let go of the past.
Beating yourself up over what you should
have, could have or would have done
differently had only this or that
circumstance been different will
paralyze you from moving forward. You’ve
hurt and disappointed people? Join the
club. So have the people you have hurt
and disappointed. If you’ve sought God’s
forgiveness, you have it. If you’ve
sought others’ forgiveness either you
have it so move one or you don’t so move
on anyway. You don’t need to be wasting
your time feeling guilty because some
folks hold a grudge and hold things over
your head. Get on with your life. God
called a chastened Israel to a brighter
future when he said, “
Remember not
the former things, nor consider the
things of old. Behold, I am doing a new
thing; now it springs forth, do you not
perceive it? I will make a way in the
wilderness and rivers in the desert”
(Isaiah 43:18-19).
2. Acknowledge the
uselessness of worry and
procrastination. My favorite
commercial right now is from the Royal
Bank of Scotland. The setting has four
executive types riding a cable car over
a beautiful, deep valley. As they are
enjoying the view the cable car suddenly
stops and precariously, slowly swings
over the ravine below. One fellow’s
remedy is “the power of positive
thinking” which he had learned in a
course. But another man sees a switch
labeled “Emergency Start”. He pushes it
and the cable car comes to life. The
narrator intones, “Talk is no substitute
for action. Make it happen.” I once
heard someone express this sentiment,
“Why worry? If you can’t do anything
about the problem, worry won’t help. If
you can do something about the problem
then do it instead of worrying about
it.” The Bible says, “And which of
you by being anxious can add a single
hour to his span of life? And why are
you anxious about clothing? Consider the
lilies of the field, how they grow: they
neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you,
even Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these” (Matthew
6:27-29).
3. Realize the danger of
worry. Worry causes us to take our
minds of the truly important and focuses
us on the temporal and less important.
Pretty soon we have drifted away, not
knowing how far off course we’ve moved
until we finally look up. In his
explanation of the parable of the soils
Jesus said, “As for what was sown
among thorns, this is the one who hears
the word, but the cares of the world and
the deceitfulness of riches choke the
word, and it proves unfruitful”
(Matthew 13:22).
4. Trust in God to do
what he said He would. You can’t do
everything. Plain and simple. So do what
you can and should do and leave
everything else to God. The Bible says,
“Do not anxious about anything, but
in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known to God. And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will
guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is
commendable, if there is any excellence,
if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things”
(Philippians 4:6-8).
God bless you,
Brad Fry
