Did you know that most people's anxiety is focused and preoccuiped with 40%
of things that will never happen, 30% of things relating to the past that
can't be changed, and 12% of things relating to other people's criticism,
which is generally untrue, and 10% of things relating to health, which often
gets worse with stress and negative thinking. Only 8% of the time do they
worry about real concerns that will need to be faced. So, if only 8% of all
the issues in our lives really turn out to be 'something.' Why is it that we
spend so much time worrying and being highly anxious and being highly
anxious and stressed about all the rest?
I read a story about Arthur Rank who decided to do all his worrying on one
day each week. He chose Wednesdays. When anything happened that gave him
anxiety and annoyed him, he would write it down, put it in his 'worry box'
and forget about it until the following Wednesday. The interesting thing was
that, on the following Wednesday when he opened his worry box, he found that
most of the things that had disturbed him the past six days were no longer
issues of concern. So it would have been useless to have worried about them
in the first place.
Of course, there are important things going on in our lives that we do need
to take seriously. However, if we spend most of our time worrying about the
inconsequential, we won't have time to focus on matters of consequence. When
we are concerned about the things that we can't do anything about, we have a
tendency to miss things which are really important and no time and energy
left to deal with them.
The issue with worry and anxiety raises the issue of our faith and trust in
God. Does God know? Does God care? Is our God sovereign? Can we trust God?
Did Jesus himself not say in Matthew 6: 25-30: "I tell you not to worry
about everyday life - whether you have enough food and drink, or enough
clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than
clothing? Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in
barns, for you heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable
to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how
they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his
glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so
wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire
tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you hvae so little faith?"
I heard about a woman who couldn't sleep at night because she worried that
her home would be burgled. One night her husband heard a noise in the house,
so he went downstairs to investigate. When he got there, he found a burglar.
He immediately said, "Come upstairs and meet my wife. She's been waiting 10
years to meet you."
A real burglar can steal from us once. Worry can steal from us night after
night, for many years. Worry not only steals sleep, it also steals our
health and our ability to cope with life productively.
And what about people who constantly ovsess about their weight? It's all
very well being health conscious, but should we think about food intake to
such an extent that there's no room in our heads to think of anything else?
Elephants live longer than people, maybe because they never worry about
trying to lose weight!
Maybe we should take the following verse like medication three times a day,
morning, noon and night to remind us to renew our minds: "Do not be anxious,
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 minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4: 6-7.
May you know the Lord's SHALOM all around the compass and the clock.
Agapé
J.John
Useful link: www.philotrust.com
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