Ever Feel Like This?
How in the world am I ever going to find a job? Is my child ever going to start talking? When will I ever get married? What if I end up with little to nothing when I retire? I just feel like I’m going crazy…what if I have a brain tumor or heart condition? If I don’t make the team, my life is over, I just know it. No matter what season of life you’re in, there’s a way you can learn to overcome the subtle god of worry today.
Can any one of by worrying add a single hour to your life?
Matthew 6:27 (NIV)
Worry – it comes in all shapes and sizes. It starts at the moment we enter this world and stays present throughout our lives until the grave. Some would say that it’s “in our nature” to be worrisome. What about you? Do you find yourself worrying? Does one or more of the questions above describe your life perfectly? If so, this post is for you. It’s especially written as a guide and reminder of how we are supposed to live in a world of worry.
When I think about what worry really is, my mind really fixates on one thing – control. Either I’m afraid of losing it, or I’m afraid of not being able to have it. When I apply one of those two statements to my subconscious and intentional mindset, anxiety starts to really rear its ugly head. What’s more is that fear of losing or not having control often leads to this cycle or spiral of thinking in which I quickly become chicken little, crying that the sky is falling when it’s not even close to reality. If I were to stop and think about it, I have plenty of good happening right here, right now…I’m just not fixated on that. I’m only choosing to see and live in the “what if’s” of life…99% of which won’t happen, or at least won’t happen while I’m thinking about it.
A Little Game Of Worst-Case Scenario
There’s a little game that’s often very beneficial to play in my head. Most of us know and play this game, too, but we don’t know how to “win” at it. It’s called, “worst-case scenario”. You start off with that worrisome thought, but you start intentionally add layers of bad to it until it’s the worst possible thing you can think of that might happen. Soon enough, it’s like your thought patterns resemble a silly child’s fiction best-seller – like a circus gone mad. Here’s the trick to “winning the game” though: You have to circle back around to the positive and tell yourself the likelihood of what WILL happen. You’ll be amazed at how silly you think you sound, and how much anxiety you’ve only caused yourself by allowing your thoughts to run rampant in your mind.
The reality is that you don’t have control over what will happen to your or around you. There’s no way to peer into the future. There’s no way to see everything outside of space and time like God can. That’s why Jesus says these words to His followers:
Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
Luke 12:22-26 (NIV)
Isn’t it easy to see things from this perspective??? Ha! Easier said than done, right? But why is it so darn difficult for us to make these types of decisions in letting go of worry? When trying to overcome the subtle god of worry, some of us don’t know where – or more importantly, WHOM – to look to. We’re trying to do it all in our own strength, controlling everything and everyone in our lives, consumed with a product or reaching a goal, or replacing worry with other things that only leave us empty or more worried than before. It creates a vicious cycle that is unforgiving and unrelenting.
Good News!
The good news is that God understands worry just like we do. Can you imagine being a young boy, walking through the streets of Jerusalem and seeing people hanging on a wooden cross? Those same people suffering in agony for crimes that they committed, desperate for relief and rescue, dying without hope? I can only think that Jesus wrestled with those thoughts of seeing Himself hanging on a cross…not for something He did or a crime He committed, but out of love for us. He pushed worry aside and let it go so that we could learn to let go and trust in His power instead. Eventually, Jesus did go to that cross, and paid the ultimate price in order to bring freedom to all who believe and trust in Him. He is exchanging our worry for His peace. Check this out:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)
Jesus didn’t just die a horrible death so that you and I could be free from sin. He also has a mark on His body that brings us PEACE from the effects of sin…and that includes worry! So powerful. So remember the next time you start to worry, Jesus paid the ultimate price in order to exchange your worry for something greater…PEACE. When you put that in perspective, you begin to break the thought patterns of worry and reverse the damage it does in your life. Here’s a great reminder of how we can turn our thoughts around towards the positive, good things and begin building the right kinds of healthy mindsets that reap benefits:
Finally, brothers and sisters, 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.
Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
I know it’s not easy, and it’s going to take time and repetition (with multiple failed attempts) in order to start making this thought pattern the new normal in your life. But with God, all things are possible! So take it one day at a time, one thought at a time, and start to see the positive in life. Let go of things that aren’t your responsibility, knowing that control isn’t the goal…it’s peace…and more importantly, the Giver of it. That’s how you can overcome the subtle god of worry.
Blessings!
