"What's Worrying You?"

Vance Havner reminded us of the uselessness of worry when he famously wrote, “Worry, like a rocking chair, will give you something to do, but it won’t get you anywhere.”

Are you struggling with worry? Worry can ambush us in so many different ways. You hear a strange noise in the engine of your car and immediately you fear the worse. Or you watch the stock market’s wild swings and worry that you won’t have enough for retirement.

Or it could be that every time you begin to experience some unusual pain, you start to worry that you have cancer. Or no matter the age of your children, you continue to worry about their health and well-being. Or you may worry what other people may think about you.

I believe time spent worrying is time wasted.

“Worry is wasting today’s time, to clutter up tomorrow’s opportunities, with yesterday’s troubles.”

Consider the following facts about worry:

Worry can damage every area of your life.

Physicians caution people regarding the collateral damage of worry. It can lead to depression, high blood pressure, impotence, insomnia, migraines and a host of other aches and pains.

Worry can also lead to an unpleasant social life. Other people don’t want to spend much time with those continually gloomy due to worry.

And there are the spiritual consequences of worry. God tells us to trust him, and worry is a sign of a serious lack of trust in God’s care.

Problems are fixed by action, not worry.

In college I heard a clever, but wise, little saying. It continues to remind me that problems and tasks are usually solved one baby step at a time. When facing a big problem or task you should, “Stop standing staring up the steps and start stepping up the stairs.” In other words, action is the cure for worry. Make a plan and get started regardless of how small the first steps.

Getting started is the most difficult part; 90 percent of success is getting started.

Worry can sap your strength and weaken your faith.

Corrie ten Boom faced struggles that must have tempted her to worry, but she refused to worry. She realized that all worrying would give her would be a loss of strength. She summed it up by writing, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; but it empties today of its strength.” Don’t let worry steal your strength.

In the 19th century, George Mueller was known for his passion to care for thousands of children through the orphanages he founded. Despite the large need for gifts to support his ministry, he refused to do two things; first, he refused to ask for money, and two, he refused to worry. When asked why he never worried, he replied, “The beginning of worry is the end of faith. The beginning of true faith is the end of worry.”

Count your blessing, not your worries.

There is a verse in the Bible that encourages me whenever I’m tempted to worry. In it God reminds us, “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God,” Philippians 4:6. In other words, God encourages us to bring our worries and concerns to him in prayer.

Here’s a challenge for you in 2019. Determine to spend more time counting your blessings – you may be surprised how many you have – and less time worrying about things over which you have no control.