By Darlene G. Snyder (find me on facebook)
It seems with the economy the way it is and our world in a topsy turvy everywhere we look, many Christians have become worriers instead of warriors.
I know first hand what worry and stress can do to a person. My husband allowed the stresses and worries of his job to cause him physical illness. It began with colitis, moved on to ulcerative colitis, which eventually destroyed his colon. He underwent an intense surgical procedure, spent about forty-five days in the hospital the year the doctors totally removed his colon. He now faces a whole array of medical problems. Stress and worry caused the initial attack of colitis.
I’ve battled the worry issue for years. The worst was when my son became a licensed driver. Allowing him to drive away alone in a car without my protection about sent me over the edge. If he came home late, I was spastic until I heard him come in the door. I know personally that a person can survive on very little sleep, because my eyes never closed until he was safe in his bed.
With age comes a little wisdom. I’ve learned a few things about worry and how to handle what life throws at me a little better. I’ll share with you what I’ve learned, then maybe, I’ll print a copy and post it somewhere as a reminder.
- We must first realize that no amount of worry will make the situation better.
- When we are besieged with anxiety, we should release it to God and trust Him.
- Find something to do in place of fretting. The cleanest my house ever gets is when I have a worry issue. Recently while my grown son was in the emergency room being diagnosed with pneumonia, I babysat my grandson, made homemade chicken soup, cleaned the kitchen and went to the grocery to avoid worrying and over reacting.
- Talk to yourself. I know this advice sounds crazy, but try it anyway. Tell yourself that there’s no need to worry, that everything will turn out alright. Talk yourself down out of that worry tree.
- Talk it out with a friend. Sometimes we need people in our lives to listen to us and to offer words of encouragement. Many times when I’ve had issues bearing down upon me and I couldn’t find hope in the situation. I’m thankful for friends who listened and gently guided me out of my anxiety.
- Search the Bible for comfort. Look for verses that will speak to your particular circumstance. Read through devotionals and other books for encouraging words.
- Avoid the what ifs. Just don’t go there. What ifs aren’t usually realistic and only serves to stress us further.
- Pray. There’s a slogan that says When all else fails, pray. I say Pray before all else fails. Place Prayer at the top of the list and spend time with God. He’s there to listen and offer comfort if we allow Him to do so. If you do this one thing, there may be no need for all the rest of the tips.
I have an Internet friend (http://divacelebration.ning.com/profile/JeanAnnDuckworth) who once told me that when she has problems or concerns she imagines the worry being placed in a box, wrapped tightly and presented to God as a gift. She sees Him opening the gift and saying, “Thanks, this is just what I wanted.” I think that is such a beautiful picture of what God wants us to do with our worries and anxieties.
If you are fretting and worrying over something, maybe you should try wrapping it up and offering it as a gift to God.
Kentucky Scenes 
Hi Darlene,
One of the most memorable sermons I ever heard preached was on the topic of worrry. It’s been the better part of forty years since I sat through that sermon, so don’t expect me to quote anything verbatum, but as I recall, the minister said something to the effect that ninty percent of the things we worry about never come to pass. We worry about things that just do not ever happen. The other ten percent of things we worry about that actually do come to fruition were going to happen whether we worried about them or not.
Now, here’s the clincher for me. If you worry about something, your mind causes your body to react as if the thing you are worried about has actually taken place. Usually the effects on your body are very negative and can prove very harmful over time. If I worry about failing to get a good review at work, it’s as though I already have failed. My emotions follow my thoughts and my body reacts to the emotions I experience. I become sad, depressed, and if taken to extremes it can lead to digestive and circulatory system complications. All that over something that ultimately never did take place. What a waste of my time, my thoughts, my emotions and my health! On top of that, by spending my time and emotional energy worrying, I increase the odds that the very thing I fear will in fact occur.
Now doesn’t it make a lot more sense just to give it all to God. After all, He already knows what is going to happen. He’s never surprised or caught off guard. If we hand our worries to Him, He gives us something wonderful in return; He give us Peace.
He gives us serenity. He gives us hope and faith and a sense of well being that we can never achieve by worrying.
Like the song says, “Don’t worry, be happy.”
God bless,
Phillip
LikeLike
Thanks Phillip.
I love what you had to say about worry. You did a great job sharing and explaining the sermon. I always appreciate your insight into matters such as this.
It does make since to, as you say, “just to give it all to God,” I’ve found that sometimes we just don’t trust God enough to handle our problems and worries. We’d rather hang on to them until we make such a mess of things that we then don’t have any alternative except to release them to Him. What a shame. We’ve put ourselves through all that turmoil only to do what we should have done in the first place.
Thanks again.
LikeLike