Do you ever worry? Every one of us worries at some point! Some of us are more prone to worry than others. You may not realize you are worrying – but any time you spend extra energy and time figuring out solutions to tsomething that may not even happen, you may be worrying.
I like what my husband says. He admits he is a “reforming” worry wart. Getting better, but still not there yet. Because of that struggle, he was able to share some awesome thoughts in a recent sermon. With his permission, I’d like to share some of his one-liners with you.
How do you know if you are worrying? Worry plays the “what if” game.
What is the difference between worry and concern? Concern takes action – even if it is the active decision to let the problem go.
“Worry spoils the perfect moments.”
“Worry can remove years from your life and life from your years.”
“At the root of it, worry is a lack of faith. The Bible calls it a sin. Worry calls God a liar, because He has promised to take care of us. – Hebrews 13:5. Worry can actually be harmful to both the worrier and to those around the worrier as he makes foolish choices based on his worry. Worry can be contagious because it puts doubt and negative thinking into the minds of others.”
“There is an inverse connection between prayer and worry: the more you do of one, the less you’ll do of the other.”
“When you realize you have started to worry, it’s time to make some changes.”
“Worry gives small things a big shadow.”
According to Dale Carnegie, three ways to fight against worry:
- Ask, what is the worst thing that can happen?
- Prepare to accept the worst if you have
- Calmly proceed to take action on the worst.
Scriptures to ponder:
Matthew 6:19-34
1 Peter 5:7
James 4:2
Philippians 4:6,7
Remember this: “God is big enough.” He loves you. He delights in you and He really does want to take care of you.
So, what are you worried about? What are you failing to trust God about? What are you going to do about it?
This is powerful. I should read this at least every other day as a reminder.
Thanks, Janice. We all need to grow in this area.
Karen…Such good advice. Thanks for reminding me…I am not a worrier, but I will admit I play the “what if” game once in awhile. Clella
I would say I’m not a worrier either – not like some people! Then I catch myself trying to think through something when the truth is I need to let God take care of matters.
I once heard a sermon on worry and he ticked off the actual amount of things we worry about coming true. I think it was in the 10% range. Sometimes I get confused between worry and problem solving. It’s a fine line.
It is a fine line! I’ve heard it expressed as the difference between worry and concern, that concern is when we do something about the problem. But it is more complext than that. Sometimes worry leads us to try to “fix” the problem ourselves when we should be letting it alone and allow God and others to solve it.
Karen, you asked me to share the quote from one of our former trustees for the Deaf Institute, Howard Wakefield: “If you are going to pray, there’s no need to worry; if you are going to worry, there’s no need to pray!” nuf said!
So very true!
Anyone else have some good quotes about worry?
What is accomplished by worrying? Nothing! 🙂 I love this blog. It’s so cheerful.