Overcoming Worry #1 of 2
No one wants to worry, yet many live their lives as if they do. There are so many reasons to make someone worried, which in turn makes one miserable. When someone lives in worry, they miss out on the blessings of now, and are prey to a gloomy outlook on life. God created the world perfectly, placing Adam and Eve in the garden. The moment man sinned, everything changed. Thorns, death, sweat, and worry all crept into the picture, and they haven’t left man’s side since then. Death and sweat remain, but just as one can clear the land that’s covered in thorns, so you can clear your life from worries.
Filter your news.
When my family and I served as missionaries in Argentina, we made a decision in our household to not watch the local news. I know this may sound extreme, closed-minded, and ignorant to you, but news in our city was much more crude than news when I was growing up. The news channel would show the corpse of a person that was in a vehicular accident, an elderly couple killed in a robbery, or highlight the most recent rapists or thieves in the area. Local news seemed to be more of a fear-inducing gossip channel. My young daughters didn’t need to see that, and my wife and I didn’t need to think about it.
I realize no one can or should live in a bubble, but we must also be cautious to filter the information we permit to enter into our minds, houses, and families. Since our mind usually focuses more quickly on the negative rather than on the positive, we should be selective of what we welcome into our lives. Whether it’s a newspaper, news channel, neighborhood discussions, or friend’s comments, you must filter what you dwell on. Knowing or not knowing news doesn’t change reality, but it does change perception. If you feed your mind with that which makes you worry, you will stress yourself to the point where you don’t want to leave your house. Filter the information you allow into your life and you will worry less.
Share it with someone.
Bottling something up doesn’t help; it usually ends in a future explosion. I am grateful that I have a wife, a pastor, and great friends with whom I can share my burdens, concerns, and worries, but I also have an all-wise and all-powerful God with whom I can share them. God tells me to cast all my cares (worries, concerns, anxieties) upon Him because He cares for me (1 Peter 5:7). God wants you to share your burdens with Him, and by doing so you can quit carrying the worries by yourself. There’s no reason to walk around worried if you will simply share these worries with the One who is powerful enough to take care of them.
Do what you can and don’t worry about what you can’t control.
Most worries have to do with the past or the future, things we can’t change even if we wanted to. If you can change something, then by all means change it, but if it’s out of your control then your worries are in vain. You can’t add a hair to your head or an inch to your stature. You can’t change who occupies the presidency, the family God has given you, or the gender God has made you. Work hard to change what’s in your power (your work ethic, your attitude, or your own happiness), and learn to quit worrying about what is not in your power.
Leave it in God’s hands.
This is much easier said than done; nevertheless, it is very important. Once you have done all you can in an area, you must trust God to do the rest. For example, once your children are out of the house, pray that they do right and commend them to God’s care. If you went to the doctor and are told that you or a loved one has a sickness, you have to ask God for His grace and leave it in His hands. When you truly believe God knows best and wants the best for you, then you have to leave it in His hands. Of course, you will think about it and be tempted to worry about it every hour or day; but you must, once again, tell yourself that it is out of your hands and in God’s. Learning to tell yourself that God has this and that He is going to take care of it, will help you with your worries. If you don’t tell yourself, no one else can tell you either. In the Bible, as Paul was leaving the Christians to go to Jerusalem, he told them he was commending them to God (Acts 20:32). Paul was no longer going to be able to preach to them, pray with them, help them, or counsel them, so he turned them over to God. And you must learn this same lesson. Once something is out of your control, then commend it to God, knowing that He is stronger, wiser, and more capable than you are.