Fellowship focus 4 - March 1998
Worry - What can I do?
Believing you shouldn't worry can be something else to worry about.
What is worry? It's a feeling of uneasiness, apprehension or dread. Negative thoughts can live in the future, they spend a lot of time speculating on what might occur, and then fearing the worst. In Philippians 4:6 Paul wrote do not be anxious about anything'. People who worry are preoccupied and distracted. No matter what else they may be doing one part of their mind is worrying.
Who worries, I think everybody has some worry. Every person who takes responsibility seriously can't help but feel a certain amount of worry. It one of the reasons that things get done. But of course, there are 2 kinds of worry. Firstly, a negative crippling worry , secondly a positive beneficial concern.
When we can't sleep because we can't stop thinking about what might happen, we have moved from a healthy concern to an oppressive crippling worry.
We do however have a choice, we can trust the Lord with our apprehensions, or we can take our well-being into our own hands. That's what Peter did on the water. He lost faith in Jesus but he knew he couldn't save himself.
'O you of little faith' Jesus said to him ( Matthew 14:31). When we feel we can't trust Jesus with our lives, feelings, or future, we worry, that is wrong. We are refusing to place ourselves in his hands. No wonder we worry!
As soon as we take our eyes off Jesus and start looking at our circumstances and then at ourselves we are bound to sink under a sea of worry. Finally a few lines that sum up the above:
Faith came singing into my room and other guests took flight
Anxiety, grief and gloom fled into the night.
I wondered that such peace could be.
But faith said quietly don't you see!
They could not possibly live with me
Laurie Strutt.