Worry: to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts. To give way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.
To torment oneself. To dwell on difficulty or troubles.
Do you do that? Do you worry? I hate to admit it, but I do. It’s a serious character flaw. It’s a great weakness and sin for me.
My mother used to worry a lot. When I was young and thought I knew everything, I once said to her, “Just don’t worry.” If she was still alive, I’d apologize. Telling someone to just stop worrying isn’t helpful. It’s like telling someone to stop feeling sad. Or stop feeling jealous.
I’ve said it before, but you can’t just change your feelings. You have to change your thoughts.
Several days ago, I dropped my wife off at the airport early in the morning. As I was leaving airport, there was a bird flying down the road in front of me at eye level. I was following the bird like it was a car in front of me. Finally, it changed direction and flew out of sight. As I continued home, I became aware of more and more birds. They’d fly across the road right in front of me. They were next to the road and would take off just as I passed them. They seemed to be everywhere I looked.
Then it hit me. “Look at the birds.”
In Matthew 6:26-27, Jesus says:
“Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your 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?”
Several verses later, speaking again about our material needs, Jesus says:
“These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:32-33)
When I torment myself with disturbing thoughts or dwell on difficulty or troubles, I’m acting just like someone that doesn’t even know Jesus. I’m completely forgetting that my heavenly Father knows all my needs. In fact, He knows them better than I do.
Jesus has a solution. It’s to seek the Kingdom of God above all else and obey him (live righteously). Then the Father will give us what we need.
What about you? Are you worried about getting your needs met?
“Look at the birds.” And remember what God has promised. Choose to seek Him and obey Him. He will come through for you.
So nice that live with glean heart joy today and peace will cover us an nothing accuss us in Christ and no torment or worry let be far from us in Jesus name thanks and bless and win,keijo sweden
“What about you? Are you worried about getting your needs met?
‘Look at the birds.’ And remember what God has promised. Choose to seek Him and obey Him. He will come through for you.”
Agreed.
It’s not easy though, when that worry, mental busyness, and frenetic emotional tumult about some kind of lack or about certain needs being met is characterized by a word you used in your last entry – “relentless.” Then, even one’s trust in God, one’s study of the scripture, one’s prayer, one’s thankfulness, one’s focus on and praise of God gets caught up and entwined in that relentless storm and can itself suffer burnout and exhaustion.
I watched a short segment on cable tonight (and have seen it occasionally as it’s a promo for Discovery channel or something like that). This gal from New Zealand jumps off the highest structure in Auckland or some place like that harnessed and roped up with all kinds of safety gear. It’s a thrill-jump and supposed to be fun; nonetheless, I can imagine her heart pounding in trepidation as she looks down into nothing from like 1000 ft. She actually has no proof that the gear will work for her, only what she has witnessed herself firsthand and the attestation based on 2nd-hand accounts. Yet there comes the time she herself has to trust 100% and make that leap.
Well, she does and all winds up well. She lives, of course, uninjured, safely on the ground, actually feeling exhilarated from a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
She had to trust while all the while her heart was pounding out of her chest. I suppose it’s similar to trusting God, yet she can be thankful that her terror and trepidation were rather short-lived. The substance of things hoped for rather quickly transubstantiated into the thing hoped for for her.
But, when one has to stand on the precipice for a prolonged period, for what seems like a lifetime, constrained and prevented from making the desired leap, urgently wanting 1) to get it over with, 2) get out of the present unpleasant circumstance, and 3) to enjoy being where one wants to be, namely ON THE PROVERBIAL GROUND, trusting God itself can become a tension-generating drudge! That’s sad!…………..LOL…………..but it’s reality for some.