Worry

Worry, it seems, is an integral part of the daily lives of pretty much all of us. Research has shown that few are those who do not worry about something. That same research also shows that, in general, our worries can be broken down into three phases. Worries about things that have happened in the past, worry about the present and worries about what might be in the future.

What is interesting is that worry of what happened in the past, averaged out, makes up 40% of what people worry about, 50% of worries focus on what might happen, leaving only 10% of worries related to the present.

Now whether these figures apply accurately to you or I might vary, but I think we can confidently say that whatever we might worry about, the vast majority of it relates to the past or future, and only a very small portion to today, the present.

Worry is a human trait, yet it is also something that we can exercise some substantial control over if we set our minds to it. And, as Brethren and Sisters in Christ, we have some additional tools that enable us to take our 'worry management' a step further.

What you may have already appreciated is that the vast majority of our worries relate to the past or the future, and thus are things over which we have no control. And we all would agree that there are many things that are not worth worrying about, especially when someone else is doing the worrying.

So lets take a look at worry over events that took place in the past, maybe a week ago, a month, a year, ten years... In truth the only thing that might be worthy of some worry is if, at the time, we did something that would have implications for the present or future. Maybe the action we took, or did not take, has implications for the present or future. Well, if so we recognize that if the implications arrive today we can include them in the 10%, and if they have not happened then put them in the 'future' slot and look at them later under that heading.

What we can do with our past actions is recognize that we made a mistake or error of judgement and determine not to do it again. But worrying will not affect the likely out come, it doesn't even help us feel better, indeed the effect is quite the opposite. One of the other causes of worry is wondering what God's response to our actions might be. Let's look at David in Psalm 103:8-10 for some reassurance.

"The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities." Psa 103:8-10

A positive way of dealing with the past is to recall the prayer of Nehemiah, "Remember me O God for good..." and we can, I assure you, rest assured knowing that will be the case.

Now we may have some worries not so much about God's response to our past, but rather what man's, or society's response might be. That task at work that was overlooked, that might not be approved by our supervisors. All we can do is rest easy and know that 9 times out of 10 the things we worry about never come to pass, and those that do are invariably nothing like as bad as we anticipated.

So let's turn our attention to the future.

Maybe we have niggling doubts about the future, a meeting tomorrow, what if, maybe thus and so might happen. Worry about tomorrow can significantly influence our behaviour and thinking today. We have a poster that several staff have pinned on their bulletin boards at work. 'I did the best I could with what I knew at the time. If it was not successful I will learn from it and make a better decision tomorrow'

There is a rather long but nonetheless helpful quote that should help us put tomorrow's worry well out of mind. Matthew 6:25, and in many Bibles it has the heading 'Cure for care'.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Mat 6:25-34

So that leads us to the present...

This is not what happened in the past and so is gone, it is not in the future, and so might never be. These are worries about the here and now. Scripture, as always, has something for us.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:4-7

God oversees all, is readily available to be approached by all His children. And we know from experience that a trouble shared is a trouble halved, so all we need do is share it in prayer.

God knows what is best for us, we have only to put ourselves in His hands. Just as a little child has implicit trust in his or her father, so that when he says "Jump, I'll catch you", the child jumps. In a sense, God is saying, "I'll catch you..." In putting ourselves in His hands through our prayers we might want to consider what we are asking for. Do we ask for the trouble to be eliminated, or for the strength and ability to cope with the challenge or problem. God will, the scripture says that God will guard your hearts and minds. Isn't that the secret, isn't that what will help us push our worries to one side? There are some examples of this in the scriptures, Hezekiah being one.

If anyone had grounds to have a few worrying moments it was Hezekiah. There he was, holed up in Jerusalem, surrounded by a very large and hostile army with no means of escape or resolution. It would be a matter of time before the walls would be breached. Certainly justification for worry. He was even prodded and heckled, "Don't think your God will save you this time..." Psychological warfare. Maybe he paced the floor. His worry for the present.. well they weren't over the wall yet, 50% for the future, they might be over the wall soon, maybe tomorrow or this evening...Would worry help? 'Hey Hezekiah is pacing the corridors worried, we had better withdraw' is not likely to have been in the thinking of the army camped outside the wall. Rather they would say, hey we are making progress and have him worried. It was only when Hezekiah stopped and started to think and get things in perspective that there was a change. He prayed... he asked for a prophet...We might ask ourselves why he did not turn to God immediately, and he might ask why we don't turn to God immediately, maybe his worries prevented him from thinking straight, from thinking scripturally, just like you and me. Any way, he finally realized he was powerless and that God was the answer and turned to God... 2 Kings 19:15

"And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God." Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 2 Kings 19:15-20

'Fervent prayer availeth much' is a phrase well borne out here. An extreme example of God's intervention dealing with a major human challenge, an army at the wall of His city. At the other end of the scale we have Namaan struggling with a personal affliction, leprosy. He wanted to do some great thing, not wash in the Jordan, that muddy apology for a river. But the lesson is there, God intervened, be it for an individual or a whole city.

In Psalm 55 we see in verse 5 a trembling and anxious man outpouring his fears and anxieties.

 "Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me." Psa 55:5

"I said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest--" Psa 55:6

"I would flee far away and stay in the desert;" Psa 55:7

"Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." Psa 55:22

Similar are the words of Christ:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Mat 11:28-30

Recognize the difficulty, resort to prayer and leave it in the hands of God, and remember, worry on our part won't help.

A couple of other brief examples may help reinforce the point. Daniel in Babylon, immediately turned to God in prayer, Stephen before the stoning turned to God, and here we should note that he did not ask that the stoning be stopped, but rather he knew that God was there and no doubt sought strength.

In conclusion we are reminded that there are no benefits from worrying about what has or will happen or in fact what is actually taking place. Events should not be a cause for worry, God has shown that He cares for us, is in control and will not let us down. The reassurance is in scripture showing that he has demonstrated it in so many ways with such clear examples including Hezekiah, David, Stephen and of course Christ.

So let's drive worry away completely, and like the child's example, put ourselves completely in our Father's hands, comforted that God knows, and God knows best. If we can do that we can well and truly relax and be completely free from that human blight, worry, and look forward to forgiveness and a place in the glorious kingdom when we might eat bread and drink wine anew with Christ.

I.K.