Worry, Worry, Worry!

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34

I know we have read this scripture before. If you read my site regularly then you have read it here before, but nonetheless it is a scripture worth repeating over and over. Why? Because as women we tend to worry about everything. As someone once pointed out to me “If I decide not to worry, I start worrying about not worrying. I worry that if I do not think about the problem, worry about it, and try to find a solution the matter will just get worse. So I worry.”

How many of us have actually been able to say that worrying has resolved a problem, or conflict? None most likely. In most cases my worrying has made things worse. Worry and Fear are so close you can not tell them apart. Fear and worry allows negative thoughts to run through our mind until we are irrationally responding to a matter, and actually making them worse. Fear and worry never tell us that things will work out, or that tomorrow will be a better day.

While worrying can not resolve a matter, it can steal your quality of life. It can cause you to not enjoy the things that are good in your life. Jesus asked “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”, the truth is worrying can’t add to your life, but it can cause anxiety leading to other health issues, actually stealing from your life.

You may be saying to yourself, “Well, I don’t want to worry but I have always worried about something and don’t know how to stop.” Worry is a choice, one which we all battle with, but I believe we can control it. It is not always easy, like a bad habit, and with some almost as hard as an addiction to break. There is a form of Therapy call Cognitive Therapy. In a nutshell, the Dr. helps you retrain your thinking. It specifically works with depression. The concept is that certain thought patterns not only lead to depression, but fuel it as well. Changing the thought patterns can actually change your outlook on life, healing depression. While some call this a novel concept, cutting edge in therapy and psychology, I say it has been around for at least thousands of years. The Apostle Paul said “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2) All through David’s Psalms he demonstrated this therapy. Even when he was depressed, in times when it seemed that all defeat was inevitable he would sing “I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities; And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation.”(Palms 31:7, 35:9) He made a choice to rejoice and be thankful.

The good news is that we can choose our thoughts, and choose to meditate and focus on what is good. And according to the word, if we change our thinking, and refuse to worry about what we can not control, we will find peace.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me–put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Phil. 4:8-9)