What can you do if you tend to be a worry wart? Some of us tend to be worriers by nature. Our instinctive reaction is to worry. You or I might say we don’t have a choice – that’s the way we were made. Wrong! God made us to live in relationship with Him and to trust Him. We can choose to worry. Or choose to trust God. A bible study leader told me years ago that the antidote to worry is prayer. So we do have a choice. We can choose to worry. Or we can pray.
Another friend used to say she kept things in ‘prayerful concern.’ No, it wasn’t a cop out and a way of giving worry another, more acceptable name. There is a great difference between worry and concern.
I’d like to suggest the best way we can stop worrying is leave it with the One who is in charge – the One who has authority over all things. We need to take it to God. If we are praying about a situation and praying in faith, then we are not worrying but leaving the situation to God to deal with. Yes, there can be the temptation to take it back and start worrying again. But if we do that we are not trusting God but trying to find a solution ourselves. So come back to God again in prayer.
The ridiculous thing is worrying never achieves anything. Problems are never solved by worrying about them. All that happens often is that we can make ourselves sick by worrying. Side effects of worry can include insomnia, headaches, including migraines, stomach complaints, even ulcers because worry churns up the insides. Some even claim cancer can be linked to worry and stress.
Another point to remember is that, too often, the things we worry about never even happen, which means it is a pointless thing to do.
God’s Word tells us, not to worry and gives reasons why we are not to worry, because God knows our needs and supplies them, Matthew 6:25-34. God can take care of us. Nothing escapes His notice or concern. In another passage God’s Word tells us ‘be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God,’ Philippians 4:6. It is hard to worry when we are being thankful.
Anxiety and worry stem from the same root cause – that of not trusting God. Will you choose to trust God in your current situation rather than churn up your insides worrying about it?
Bible references taken from The New American Standard Version
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