I got the idea to write a blog post about worry. It was going to be this neat little post filled with snappy ideas and good advice. Then, in rapid succession, I encountered a health crisis, a financial crisis and a personal crisis, all rolled into one. So please know that I’m not writing this from an easy, worry-free time in my life. But let me try to say something helpful about worry.
It seems to me that most of our worry surrounds big decisions and the consequences of them. What will happen if I do this? What will happen if I don’t? Will it be harmful? Will I be happy? What’s the right thing to do? The essence of worry is asking these questions over and over.
Now, I don’t believe it’s wrong for us to think things through. God gave us the capacity to think logically, and there are a lot of things we can work out that way. But one thing we can’t do is see the future. And when we’re worrying, that’s what we’re trying to do.
This is the real problem with worry—we’re trying to be God. He’s the only one who can see our future, and no matter how often we ask: what will happen if I do this? we will never know the answer like He does. Somehow, we have to let God be God and content ourselves with being His creatures.
I know that I, for one, am looking for ways to help myself do that.
Sometimes I find it helpful to come back to the present moment. Worry keeps our mind so much on the future that we fail to notice the here and now. I try to look around me at what is and ask myself: is anything wrong right now?
You might be surprised how often this answer is positive. If I have a job, if I have food, if there’s at least some money in my bank account to pay bills, if I’m alive and in no immediate danger, then the fact is: nothing is wrong right now.
That’s a good thing, and we can take a moment to rejoice in it.*
You might say: but right now, my relationship is broken. Right now, I’m about to lose my job. Right now I have food, but come tomorrow it will all be gone. Yes, but in this present moment, there is no immediate need. Right now we can breathe and pray and look around us at what’s good. Look at the sky, ponder a flower, or pet a dog. Notice that you’re breathing and your heart is pumping life-giving blood though your whole body. Right now you’re okay. As long as that’s the case, then whatever we’re worried about, it can wait.
It also sometimes helps me to remember that God can’t reveal everything to me at once. My little human brain isn’t designed to understand the entire universe or know the whole future. I can’t ask God today what I should be doing ten years from now because I couldn’t understand His answer if He gave it.
When we’re worried, I think we often ask God to guide us in choices we aren’t even making yet. We ask whether or not we should take a job that hasn’t yet been offered to us. Or whether to marry someone who hasn’t proposed.
We might feel pretty strongly that we want to have an answer ready when the time comes, but the fact is: sometimes it doesn’t come. We can spend a lot of time and energy on decisions that never even need to be made. That’s a shame because if we always lose today in worrying about tomorrow, then what are we left with?
The only reasonable way forward is to trust that, when we get there, God will make the choice clearer. He can show us which path to take when we come to the crossroads, but not while the intersection is still a mile away.
It’s like deciding what clothes to wear. I could look at a weather forecast and choose my outfit for a day that’s two weeks from now. But maybe when I get to that day, I’ll find that the weather is much warmer than I expected, and now my boots and cozy sweater aren’t the right choice. Just like the meteorologist couldn’t tell me two weeks in advance what to wear, God can’t always tell us in advance what to do.
So, where does that leave us in regard to worry?
The final thing that helps me is to know that, while maybe not in this world, the outcome is certain. Whatever choices we make, whether we take this path or that one, as long as we’ve accepted Jesus into our heart, we can never really go wrong.
It’s true that we may feel like things are very wrong in our life at the moment. And they are very wrong, because we live in a sinful world that isn’t how God intended it to be for us. But if we can step back and look at the bigger picture—even to the limited degree that we have the ability to do that—I think we can see that it really is okay. No harm that comes to us in this world is permanent. All these worries and troubles stay here when we move on to eternity. All the strife gets left behind when we go to our Lord who is waiting to welcome us.
There’s certainly nothing to worry about in that.
* If something is wrong right now, then please set about putting that right. Don’t be afraid to reach out for whatever help you need. Immediate needs require immediate solutions.
Conversation starter
What things do you worry most about these days? Are these things a good reflection of what you value most in life?
Question 1: Read Matthew 6:25-34
Jesus’ words here seem to make a lot of sense. Yet, why do you think people still end up worrying about their bodies and their clothes and other aspects of their lives?
Question 2:
What does Jesus say here about worry and how does he expect us to give up this very natural tendency?
Question 3:
What would it look like to seek first the kingdom in your everyday life?
Question 4:
Pastor Scott asked the question, “Do you overcome worry, or is it something you just learn to manage?” How have you tried to manage your worries in the past? Were there specific things you told yourself, or practices you had?
Question 5:
If the things you are most devoted to fuel the things you worry about the most, what does that tell you about what you are most devoted to? Does that devotion reflect the things that you really want to live your life for?
Question 6:
What are some things you can do this week to shift your devotions and fix your focus on Jesus? What is one verse you can begin to memorize to help you in your moments of worry? (If you’re not sure where it is in the Bible or what the exact words are, Google it!!)
Prayer Focus
There is nothing more powerful than praying the scriptures! Let’s Pray Philippians 4:6:
Lord, thank you that your word tells me to be anxious for nothing. And Lord, I thank you for all the many blessings in my life, for (list some of your blessings). You are so good! And now Lord I present to you these things that I’m worried about (tell God the things on your mind) and I ask you to take these worries from me. I trust you with them and I trust that your peace which passes all understanding, will guard my heart and mind through Christ Jesus.