Worry Doesn’t Help, So Why Waste Your Time?

“Do not be anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:6 NIV).

Worry will kill your joy and cause you stress. We tend to expect the worst in life. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, they affect 18.1 percent of the U.S. population.But worry isn’t just a mental issue. It’s a spiritual one. It’s assuming a responsibility that God never intended for us to have. It’s playing God and trying to control the uncontrollable.

There was once a scientific study on worry that discovered:

• 40% of our worries never happen
• 30% of our worries concern the past
• 12% of our worries are needless worries about our health
• 10% of our worries are insignificant or petty concerns
• 8% of our worries are really legitimate concerns

Worry is worthless. It can’t change the past or control the future. It only messes you up right now. It’s an incredible waste of energy. It’s stewing without doing. When we worry about things, they get bigger and bigger.

The Bible says, “Do not worry about anything” (Philippians 4:6 NCV). It’s one of the hardest commands to obey. It’s even more countercultural when you consider where Paul was when he wrote it. He was sitting in a prison waiting for the emperor to execute him.

Worry is something we learn to do. You must practice worry to get good at it. If it is learned, it can also be unlearned.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (NIV).

Jesus gives us the ultimate antidote to worry.

Live one day at a time. God will take care of tomorrow.

https://pastorrick.com/worry-doesnt-help-so-why-waste-your-time/?roi=echo7-34603375529-53469001-db3fad71b878c1dfa3a5703636a46ed3

 

APPROACH PROBLEMS with a light touch. When your mind moves toward a problem area, you tend to focus on that situation so intensely that you lose sight of Me. You pit yourself against the difficulty as if you had to conquer it immediately. Your mind gears up for battle, and your body becomes tense and anxious. Unless you achieve total victory, you feel defeated. There is a better way. When a problem starts to overshadow your thoughts, bring this matter to Me. Talk with Me about it and look at it in the Light of My Presence. This puts some much-needed space between you and your concern, enabling you to see from My perspective. You will be surprised at the results. Sometimes you may even laugh at yourself for being so serious about something so insignificant. You will always face trouble in this life. But more importantly, you will always have Me with you, helping you to handle whatever you encounter. Approach problems with a light touch by viewing them in My revealing Light.

Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,
who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.
PSALM 89 : 15

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have
overcome the world.”
JOHN 16 : 33

=JESUS CALLING=

 

Relax in God’s Grace

 

Do you know you don’t have to be perfect for God to love you? Psalm 119:96 says, “Nothing is perfect except God’s word.” (TLB) Put that on your refrigerator door. Grace is the only antidote for perfectionists.

God understands you completely. He’s fully aware of your humanity. He knows what makes you tick. He knows your faults, your fears, your foibles, your failures and frustrations and all those things. He knows you. He doesn’t expect you to be Superman. He’s like a father. “As a father is kind to his children, so the Lord is kind to those who honor him. He knows what we are made of. He remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:13-14 GNT)

I have three kids. All of them had to learn to walk. This was the process: They’d take a step, and they’d stumble. They’d get up, take two steps, and stumble. What was my reaction as a father to that? Did I say, “What are you doing stumbling? You’re a Warren and Warrens don’t stumble! We have dignity. Get up. You can do better than that”? Of course not! How silly! And yet you think that’s how God treats you. You think that every time you stumble, God says, “Get up! What are you doing, you dummy!”

There is nothing that you will ever do that will make God love you more than he does right now. There is nothing that you will ever do that will make God love you less than he does right now. His love is unconditional. It’s not based on what you do or don’t do.

 

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