Overcoming Worry

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OVERCOMING WORRY (part 1)

I heard about a ninety-five year old woman at the nursing home who received a visit from one of her fellow church members. The visitor asked her, "How are you feeling?"I heard about a ninety-five year old woman at the nursing home who received a visit from one of her fellow church members. The visitor asked her, "How are you feeling?"

She said, "I'm worried sick!"

Her friend said, "What are you worried about? You look like you're in good health. They're taking good care of you, aren't they?"

She said, "Yes, they are taking very good care of me."

"Well, then, what are you worried about?"

The elderly lady leaned back in her rocking chair and said, "Every close friend I ever had has already died and gone on to heaven. I'm afraid they're all wondering where I went!"

My guess is that most of you haven't started worrying about that yet, but my guess is that there's something in your life that worries you. Maybe some of you are worrying about school. Maybe you're worried about upcoming exams and papers that are due.

Or maybe you worry about financial matters (Is the stock market going to crash? What if I reach retirement age and I don't have enough saved up? Or maybe even, Can I afford to fill up my car with gas this month?). Maybe you worry about your job (What if I get laid off? What if I don't get the promotion I'm counting on?).

Maybe you worry about health issues. Maybe you worry about computer viruses or the possibility of being audited by IRS or the embarrassment of having a credit card declined in public. Maybe you worry about how your kids are gonna turn out. I think it's safe to say that worry is one of those problems that we all struggle with from time to time, whether we want to admit it or not.

What is worry? The Greek word comes from two root words meaning "divided" and "mind". In other words, a person who worries suffers from a divided mind. In Luke 10, Jesus used this word to describe a good friend of his. When Martha asked Jesus to rebuke her sister for not helping with the dinner dishes, Jesus said, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42)

Jesus is saying, "Martha, you're trying to do too many things at once. Focus on one thing." We do the same thing -- we keep one eye on God and another eye on the problems we're facing, one eye on God and one eye on all the material things we want to collect.

Now, of course, we're not the first people to experience stress and anxiety. Anxiety has been around for a long time. And in Jesus' day, folks worried just as much we do. They had to deal with the problems of paying their bills, feeding their families, pleasing their employers, raising their children, paying their taxes and saving for the future just like we do.

So what did Jesus say to help them deal with the pressures of life? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus deals honestly with the problem of worrying.

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" (Matthew 6:25)

In the next TFTD, we'll look at several reasons Jesus gives as to why his followers shouldn't worry and, perhaps more importantly, how we can stop worrying.

(to be continued)

Have a great day!

Alan Smith

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OVERCOMING WORRY (part 2)

I heard about a patient in a mental hospital who was holding his ear close to the wall, listening intently. The attendant finally approached. "Shh!" whispered the patient, beckoning him over. The attendant pressed his ear to the wall for a long time. "I can't hear a thing," he said. "I know," replied the patient, "it's been like that all day!"

We don't just worry about the things that are happening. We worry about the things that AREN'T happening to us! And if things have been going well, we worry because we're confident that our "luck" will change in the near future.

In the last TFTD, we started looking at Matthew 7:25-34 where Jesus talks about worry. He gives several reasons why we shouldn't worry. One of them is that worry doesn't do any good. "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?" (Matthew 6:27). The NIV translates this verse, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

Whether you're talking about your height or the length of your life, there are some things in life that you can't do anything about. Worry, by its very definition, takes place when we assume responsibility for things that are outside our control.

There is a difference between being concerned about the future and being worried about the future. Being concerned is when you have the ability to do something about a problem and you do it. Worry is when you can't do something about the problem, but you fret about it anyway.

There are some things that are within our control. For example, if you were to go away on a trip, you might be concerned about the safety of your home while you are gone, so you would lock the doors of your house, activate the security system (if you have one), maybe ask a neighbor to keep an eye on your place. There are precautions you can take, and you take them. That's not worry – it's just being careful.

But if you spend your vacation obsessing about your house the whole time you're gone, thinking it might burn down or be broken into even though you took precautions, that's worry. That's something you don't have control over.

And Jesus says that it's foolish to worry because worrying isn't going to change anything. If my house is going to burn down while I'm on vacation, it's going to burn down whether I worry or not. The only difference is that I cause myself a whole lot of stress along the way.

All worry is useless. It is powerless to accomplish anything of value. As the old saying goes, "Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere." It's so true. If we're afraid of what might happen or we're worried about something that has already happened -- neither of which we can control or change -- we lose peace of mind. The truth is that most of the things we worry about will never happen.

It is said of the writer Thomas Carlyle that he built a mostly soundproof chamber in which to do his writing in silence. But one of Carlyle's neighbors owned a rooster that crowed several times in the night as well as the early morning. When Carlyle complained to the owner of the rooster, the neighbor said, "But it only crowed three times last night. It couldn't have been that much of a bother. Carlyle said, "But, if you only knew what I suffer waiting for that rooster to crow!"

We're the same way. We suffer a lot worrying about something that may or may not happen. And, in fact, if we were to keep a record of all of our fears throughout our lifetime, chances are good that 90 percent (or more) of those things we dreaded never came to pass. Worry simply doesn't do any good.

(to be continued)

Have a great day!

Alan Smith

[admin]

OVERCOMING WORRY (part 3)

The story is told of a young man who was fresh out of business school. He was looking for a job and saw an ad in the newspaper for a small business needing an accountant. So he answered the ad and ended up going in for an interview with this very nervous man who was running this small business that he had started himself.

The man said, "I need someone with an accounting degree. But mostly I'm looking for someone to do my worrying for me."

The young man said, "Excuse me? I'm afraid I don't understand."

The owner said, "I worry about a lot of things, but I don't want to have to worry about money. Your job will be to take all the money worries off my back."

The young fellow said, "OK, I understand. And how much does the job pay?"

The owner said, "I'll start you at eighty thousand a year."

The young man was blown away. He said, "Eighty thousand dollars! How can such a small business afford a salary like that?"

The owner said "That is your first worry."

If I were to ask, "How many of you would like to learn how to worry more? How many of you feel that your life would be improved if only you could spend more time worrying about stuff?", I doubt if I would get any takers. We don't like to worry and we know that, just as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, it doesn't do any good.

But Jesus gives us yet another reason why we shouldn't worry -- because worry demonstrates a lack of faith! "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" (Matthew 6:30)

Notice the phrase that Jesus uses here to describe people who worry -- "O you of little faith." It's important for us to understand that worry and faith are opposites. If you have faith, then you won't worry. If you worry, then you don't have sufficient faith. You may tell yourself, "I believe that God is able to take care of me". But something inside you whispers, "Hey, what if? What if it doesn't work out?" The seeds of doubt result in a harvest of worry.

Jesus makes the point in Matthew 6:32 that worry is characteristic of pagans ("after all these things the Gentiles seek"). It's normal for somebody who's not a Christian to sit around wringing his hands, worried about what might happen or what might not happen. You expect that from someone who's not a Christian because they don't have a trust that God will take care of them.

I would like to think that my children have never worried about whether or not they would have a bed to sleep in from week to week. They've never worried about whether or not there would be enough food for them to eat for supper. They've never worried about whether or not they would have clothes to wear. Why didn't they worry about those things? Because they had two parents who loved them and provided for them.

And if my kids got up one morning and said, "Dad, I couldn't sleep last night because I was afraid there wouldn't be anything to eat today," it would bother me. In fact, it might even anger me a little bit. "Suddenly, you think I'm not going to take care of you any more? What's that all about?"

I wonder if God feels the same way when we worry about stuff. The bottom line question when we're tempted to worry is this: "Do we truly believe that God will take care of us?"

In the next TFTD, we'll look at what Jesus said we can do to overcome worry.

(to be continued)

Have a great day!

Alan Smith

[admin]

OVERCOMING WORRY (part 4)

The following are reported to be actual announcements taken from various church bulletins. They have been around for a while, but they're still enjoyable:

Thursday night -- potluck supper. Prayer and medication to follow.

For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

This afternoon there will be a meeting in the south and north ends of the church. Children will be baptized at both ends.

Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First xxx Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.

Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

During the absence of our preacher, we enjoyed the rare privilege of hearing a good sermon when A. B. Doe supplied our pulpit.

Low Self-Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 to 8:30 p.m. Please use the back door.

Preacher is on vacation. Massages can be given to church secretary.

Church Rummage Sale: A good opportunity to get rid of anything not worth keeping but too good to throw away. Bring your husband.

The outreach committee has enlisted 25 members to make calls on people who are not afflicted with any church.

Don't let worry kill you. Let the church help.

Putting out a church bulletin, I know how easy it is to slip up and misprint a word or word something in a "less than desirable" way. But the church can help (overcome worry, not kill you). More specifically, Jesus Christ can help you deal with worry. We've looked at the reasons that Jesus says we shouldn't worry (it doesn't do any good, it expresses a lack of faith, it is characteristic of heathens). Now, let's look at what he says about how to overcome worry:

(1) Prioritize, Put First Things First

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33)

I wrote earlier that worry means having a divided mind. The way to get rid of worry is to do what Jesus told Martha, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed..." (Luke 10:41-42a)

If you really want to live a worry-free life, Matthew 6:33 is the key. Every morning, as you get up to face the day, tell the Lord, "Today my desire is to seek your will, Lord, to do your righteousness. Whatever happens, whatever I encounter, may I be sensitive to your presence and depend on your strength. May your kingdom be my highest priority, the most significant thought in my mind. This day is yours, Lord."

I guarantee that as you care more and more about giving God first place in your life, you will care less and less about the things that once strangled you emotionally and spiritually, stealing your peace.

(2) Live One Day at a Time

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34)

So many of us worry about "what's gonna happen". What if this happens, or what that happens? God understands that we have a habit of worrying about tomorrow and next year and 20 years from now, so Christ tells us to concentrate on the problems of today.

I'm reminded of when the Israelites were given manna every morning. They were told by God to collect only enough food for one day. But some of them, no doubt, were tempted to worry about tomorrow. What if there's no manna when we wake up? We could starve to death. So just to be on the safe side, they set aside some manna to get them through the next day. But when they got up the next morning, it was filled with maggots. What God wanted them to understand was this -- you don't worry about tomorrow. I'll be here for you tomorrow just as surely as I'm here with you today. If you really believe that, then you don't need to worry about what's going to happen tomorrow.

Once again, it all comes down to faith. If we're going to get rid of worry, we're going to have to strengthen our faith in God, our trust that God will always be here for us just as he promised he would be.

I close out our study about worry with these words from the apostle Paul: "Be anxious for nothing (that is, don't worry 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 minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7)

Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. That's great advice!

Have a great day!

Alan Smith