.

.

I worry…a lot.

.

I worry a lot of the time about a lot of things…

-Did I close the garage door?
-Performance at home and work (“am I REALLY loving my wife, children, and the local church?”)

-Politics
-Am I loving God?

.

Now, some of you might say, “Big deal! So you worry! Who cares!? Welcome to the human race!”

.

But it IS a big deal.

.

A. Some studies suggest that stress–and what causes stress more than worrying!?–leads to heart disease, the NUMBER 1 killer of Americans each year (please click HERE and HERE). That’s right, worrying in our minds can cause break downs/deterioration in our physical bodies. WOW! Worrying just might be equally as harmful as smoking cigarettes…

.

B. Worrying also weakens the joy and peace Jesus offers us (John 14:27 and John 17:13). Just as arteries can become clogged and/or pinched together, thus restricting/limiting the amount of blood flowing through them, so our worrying can spiritually clog/pinch our souls, thus restricting/limiting Jesus’ joy flowing in and through us.

.

C. Worrying can also affect our ability to deal gently with others (Philippians 4:4-7). WOW! Jesus reveals that the second greatest commandment is to love all others the way we love (take care of) ourselves, and Philippians 4:4-7 connects our gentleness toward others with our levels of personal/inner anxiety. That is sobering…

.

D. Finally, when we worry, whether we realize it or not, we are believing the lie that what we are worrying about is BIGGER/MORE POWERFUL THAN God. Yes, worry is a matter of faith. If you have 10 million dollars in the bank and you get a surprise bill for $100k, you might not be HAPPY about the bill but you certainly aren’t overly worried about it, namely because what is in your account is WAY BIGGER than what is on your bill! The same is true spiritually, and that is why 1 John 4:4 reminds us that we ALREADY HAVE overcome the false spirits of the world because “God Who is in us is greater than [the devil] who is in the world.” David reminds us in Psalm 27:1 that he will neither fear nor tremble against his terrible circumstances because GOD is with him, because God is his light in the darkness and fortress in the war. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 reveals that those who have received Jesus as Savior do not even need to worry about DEATH because Jesus’ death on the cross and return to life has defeated death and guaranteed eternal life in heaven with God for anyone who believes. YES! Finally, the major sin of Jesus’ followers when they were on the boat in the storm (Mark 4:35-41) wasn’t their doubt (worry!) but rather was what their doubt (worry) revealed–they accused Jesus of doing nothing for them, they accused Jesus of being unable/unwilling to defeat the storm, they accused Jesus of not caring about them! That is what our worry says to God, and THAT is why it IS a serious issue to be dealt with.

.

When I notice that I am worrying, I usually just “push through” my worries/fears, change the subject in my mind, and keep going with my day. That works for a while, but eventually the un-dealt with (i.e. un-prayed for) worries/fears accumulate like clutter/junk stuffed into a closet…the closet door eventually cannot be shut and everything spills into the room causing disorder and further discomfort. It’s so much more efficient to clean up toys one or two at a time instead of waiting to clean up a hundred toys at the end of the month.

.

Recently, however, God has been teaching me to to stop and pray whenever I catch myself worrying about ANYTHING, just as it’s best to clean up a broken jar of spaghetti sauce when it happens instead of leaving the mess until later when it will attract bugs, grow mold, and possibly harm others [e.g. broken glass on the floor]).

.

.

And so God is teaching me to begin to put into practice His Truth in Philippians 4:4-7:

.

.

The NLT paraphrases that passage this way:

.

.

.

Kind of like when it rains while you are driving a car: if it’s coming down lightly you can get away with having your windshield wipers on low…but if the rain is coming down heavy in huge drops you need to turn on your wipers FAST to keep clearing away the water. To NOT do so–that is, to leave your wipers off or on low during a thunderstorm–will cause your vision to be blurred and your vehicle to eventually crash.

.

Similarly, we NEED to increase our times of prayer–both alone and with others–when we are in one of life’s rainstorms. We simply harm ourselves and others further when we neglect to pray…and pray often…

.

.

1. Realize you’re stressed about finances? Pause for 10 seconds, admit to God that you are worried, admit to God that by worrying you are believing the lie that your financial problem is BIGGER/MORE POWERFUL than God, thank Him for some of the ways He has blessed you, and ask Him to help you trust that His peace WILL guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus (even if you can’t FEEL your heart and mind being guarded immediately).

.

2. Realize you’re stressed about family issues? Pause for 10 seconds (yes, stop what you are doing–even watching t.v.!), admit to God that you are worried, admit to God that by worrying you are believing the lie that your financial problem is BIGGER/MORE POWERFUL than God, thank Him for some of the ways that He has blessed you lately, and ask Him to help you trust that His peace WILL guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus (even if you can’t FEEL your heart and  mind being guarded immediately!).

.

3. Realize you’re stressed about ANYTHING? Follow directions above, rinse and repeat. 🙂

.

.

Please notice that those verses in Philippians do not say that by praying with thanksgiving God will necessarily CHANGE your circumstances! We often think that if we pray about the cold weather God will turn the temperature into summer by the end of the prayer! NO! But those verses in Philippians do reveal that God, through our prayers, will hand us a lush down coat for us to wear in the midst of the cold and bitter wind. He won’t always change our circumstances but He will guard our hearts and minds–where we think and make our decisions–from the painful circumstances so that we can continue to choose to believe in Jesus, follow Jesus, and love Him and all others each day. And that makes prayer worthwhile indeed…

.

.

If you begin putting God’s Truth into practice, you might not see immediate results, but don’t stop praying! You still often feel miserable the first few days after beginning to take antibiotics, but keep taking the doses! You might even begin to feel BETTER before you’re done with the antibiotics but keep taking it until the prescription is finished–this is necessary to fully destroy the bad bacteria that is making you sick.

.

We don’t apply God’s Truth simply for the earthly results it gives us but primarily for the eternal results it gives us–growing closer to Jesus, God Himself, knowing Him more deeply and more personally (John 17:3). And being right by Jesus’ side can make the most worrisome boogeymen of life seem like a harmless coatrack in the corner of a darkened bedroom…

.

After finishing this post I IMMEDIATELY began worrying:

.

.

Now I’m praying again! 🙂