Worry

I guess I’m a bit of a worrier, but before I came to live here I’ve never experienced that gut churning fear that makes you feel ill and stops you wanting to eat. Most of the things I worry about here are quite unlikely to happen, but that doesn’t make the fear any less real. I am reading a very helpful book at the moment, which has a chapter on fear. (‘Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World’ by Joanna Weaver) As I guess I’m not the only one who struggles with this problem from time to time I thought I’d share some thoughts with you. First some statistics:

What we worry about

40% are things that will never happen
30% are about the past-which can’t be changed
12% are about criticism by others, mostly untrue.
10% are about health, which gets worse with stress
8% are about real problems that can be solved.

The point this book makes is that worry/fear is allowing our problems to come between us and God. It is really saying that God has somehow lost control of the situation and we cannot trust him. I like to think that I’m trusting God, but there are definitely areas of my life that I’m holding on to very tightly, that I feel like I have a right to worry over and that subconsciously think the worry actually helps. However, “ Worry doesn’t prevent bad things from happening. In fact it may prevent us from leading the full lives God intends us to live”.

That is not to say that there are not plenty of things in the world to be concerned about and in John 16 v33 Jesus says “ In this world you will have trouble”. But...

“If we have Jesus as our saviour, we are not alone. We are never alone. When life comes blustering down the street, threatening to huff and puff and blow our house down, we can rest in ease. Because we live within a mighty fortress. Because we are hidden beneath almighty wings. Because we have a heavenly father right there beside us. And he’s rolling up his sleeves.

That’s the reason we can leave our worries behind-not because there’s nothing to be concerned about, but because we have someone who can handle them a lot better than we can.”

“Do not be anxious about anything”, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

“I prayed to the Lord and he answered me, freeing me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy. (Psalm 34 v 4-5).”

Now comes the hard part; living out the truth in my day-to-day life!