The Trouble With Worry
Angela Wisdom
“There was a young girl riding a train, looking out the window and crying. During the course of the ride a man saw her. He asked her why she was crying and she said, “Well, I just got to thinking, what if I was married and had a baby. And what if my baby fell out the window of this train and was killed?”
This ridiculous little story is one I heard years ago to illustrate how we can spin our wheels thinking of things that don’t apply to us, and how we can worry about them, or as my grandmother would say, “borrow trouble”. So many of the things we worry about are ridiculous in hindsight, and the vast majority of things we worry about happening, never happen.
The definition of WORRY is: “persistent mental uneasiness; to feel anxious or distressed, troubled and uneasy”. Worry can cause us to have lack of sleep, fatigue, high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, heart problems, and a host of other physical ailments. Worry robs us of joy, happiness, and peace. It distorts our reasoning powers and wastes our life. Pharmaceutical companies are getting rich because of the ailments that worry causes.
Some people worry over things that have already happened, but that is like trying to put toothpaste back in the toothpaste tube. Past deeds cannot be undone. If the things of the past worry us, and they are things of a sinful nature, then we need to correct them with God and He will forgive us. Hebrews 10: 16 – 18 tells us that God will not remember our sins that are corrected, so why should we spend more time on them if they are forgiven?
When God forgives us, we need to forgive ourselves and quit worrying about those things that are behind. Paul told us in Philippians 3:13: Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before. Scripture tells us of people who “stretched forward to the things which are before”. Have you thought about the fact that Rahab was a harlot (or prostitute), yet she is talked about being a woman of great faith in the book of Hebrews and she went on the be in the lineage of Christ? ; Peter denied the Lord 3 times, yet he was given the keys of the Kingdom and preached the first gospel sermon on Pentecost?; Abraham and Sarah lied, yet they are considered great people of faith in the book of Hebrews, and it was through Abraham and his descendants that the Christ came?; Paul considered himself the chief of sinners, yet he spread the gospel and wrote many books in our New Testament?; David committed fornication with another man’s wife, helped plan a murder, and yet God said he was a man after God’s own heart and wrote many of our psalms? So many of the great prophets in the past sinned too, but they put their sins behind them and went on the greater service to God. This is what we have to do too! To continue to worry about past sins is to hamper our service to God.
Worry can become like a habit to us. Jesus told Martha in Luke 10 that she was “careful and troubled about many things”. We can become like Martha and become worried and anxious over the things of this life, and forget to make “the main thing the main thing” – that of serving God and sitting at Jesus’ feet.
Some people worry about things that are inevitable, such as their children growing up and getting married. They worry about dying. Hebrews 9:27 tells us that we’re all going to die. Others worry about growing old (2 Cor. 5:1). Sometimes people worry about money and how they’re going to live and what they’re going to wear.
Let’s look at Matthew 6: 25 – 34 and notice some things about worry.
· Verses 25 – 26: When we worry, we distrust God’s love, care and power. If God feeds the birds, won’t He feed and take care of us?
· Verse 27: Worry is futile. None of us can add more time to our lives by worrying.
· Verses 25, 31, 34: Each one of these verses says, “do not be anxious” and we can see in these verses that worry is prohibited by God. To worry is to disobey God.
· Verse 30: When we worry, we don’t have the faith that we should have. God calls it “little faith”.
· Verse 32: Worry denies that God knows and supplies what we need.
· Verse 33: God’s instructions here are to seek first the Kingdom of God and He will supply our needs.
· Verse 34: Tomorrow has its own troubles, and we don’t need to begin to worry about it because we don’t even have tomorrow yet. Don’t worry about tomorrow – God is already there.
When we worry, we have filled our life with the things that are useless and then we have no time for God, for His church, for study of God’s word, or are able to work for God.
The worst thing about worry is that it can cause us to lose our souls in a devil’s hell. When we worry we have disregarded God’s command in Matthew 6. Psalm 4:6 tells us “do not be anxious about anything”.
Worry keeps us from making the best use of our time. (Eph. 5:15). It causes us to be like the seed that fell among thorny ground (Matt. 4:7), and it causes us to be more mindful of the cares and riches of life, and it keeps us from maturing in Christ.
(Our next post will be about some ways to overcome worry.)
Angela Wisdom
“There was a young girl riding a train, looking out the window and crying. During the course of the ride a man saw her. He asked her why she was crying and she said, “Well, I just got to thinking, what if I was married and had a baby. And what if my baby fell out the window of this train and was killed?”
This ridiculous little story is one I heard years ago to illustrate how we can spin our wheels thinking of things that don’t apply to us, and how we can worry about them, or as my grandmother would say, “borrow trouble”. So many of the things we worry about are ridiculous in hindsight, and the vast majority of things we worry about happening, never happen.
The definition of WORRY is: “persistent mental uneasiness; to feel anxious or distressed, troubled and uneasy”. Worry can cause us to have lack of sleep, fatigue, high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, heart problems, and a host of other physical ailments. Worry robs us of joy, happiness, and peace. It distorts our reasoning powers and wastes our life. Pharmaceutical companies are getting rich because of the ailments that worry causes.
Some people worry over things that have already happened, but that is like trying to put toothpaste back in the toothpaste tube. Past deeds cannot be undone. If the things of the past worry us, and they are things of a sinful nature, then we need to correct them with God and He will forgive us. Hebrews 10: 16 – 18 tells us that God will not remember our sins that are corrected, so why should we spend more time on them if they are forgiven?
When God forgives us, we need to forgive ourselves and quit worrying about those things that are behind. Paul told us in Philippians 3:13: Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before. Scripture tells us of people who “stretched forward to the things which are before”. Have you thought about the fact that Rahab was a harlot (or prostitute), yet she is talked about being a woman of great faith in the book of Hebrews and she went on the be in the lineage of Christ? ; Peter denied the Lord 3 times, yet he was given the keys of the Kingdom and preached the first gospel sermon on Pentecost?; Abraham and Sarah lied, yet they are considered great people of faith in the book of Hebrews, and it was through Abraham and his descendants that the Christ came?; Paul considered himself the chief of sinners, yet he spread the gospel and wrote many books in our New Testament?; David committed fornication with another man’s wife, helped plan a murder, and yet God said he was a man after God’s own heart and wrote many of our psalms? So many of the great prophets in the past sinned too, but they put their sins behind them and went on the greater service to God. This is what we have to do too! To continue to worry about past sins is to hamper our service to God.
Worry can become like a habit to us. Jesus told Martha in Luke 10 that she was “careful and troubled about many things”. We can become like Martha and become worried and anxious over the things of this life, and forget to make “the main thing the main thing” – that of serving God and sitting at Jesus’ feet.
Some people worry about things that are inevitable, such as their children growing up and getting married. They worry about dying. Hebrews 9:27 tells us that we’re all going to die. Others worry about growing old (2 Cor. 5:1). Sometimes people worry about money and how they’re going to live and what they’re going to wear.
Let’s look at Matthew 6: 25 – 34 and notice some things about worry.
· Verses 25 – 26: When we worry, we distrust God’s love, care and power. If God feeds the birds, won’t He feed and take care of us?
· Verse 27: Worry is futile. None of us can add more time to our lives by worrying.
· Verses 25, 31, 34: Each one of these verses says, “do not be anxious” and we can see in these verses that worry is prohibited by God. To worry is to disobey God.
· Verse 30: When we worry, we don’t have the faith that we should have. God calls it “little faith”.
· Verse 32: Worry denies that God knows and supplies what we need.
· Verse 33: God’s instructions here are to seek first the Kingdom of God and He will supply our needs.
· Verse 34: Tomorrow has its own troubles, and we don’t need to begin to worry about it because we don’t even have tomorrow yet. Don’t worry about tomorrow – God is already there.
When we worry, we have filled our life with the things that are useless and then we have no time for God, for His church, for study of God’s word, or are able to work for God.
The worst thing about worry is that it can cause us to lose our souls in a devil’s hell. When we worry we have disregarded God’s command in Matthew 6. Psalm 4:6 tells us “do not be anxious about anything”.
Worry keeps us from making the best use of our time. (Eph. 5:15). It causes us to be like the seed that fell among thorny ground (Matt. 4:7), and it causes us to be more mindful of the cares and riches of life, and it keeps us from maturing in Christ.
(Our next post will be about some ways to overcome worry.)