Merriam Webster defines worry as : mental distress or agitation resulting from concern usually for something impending or anticipated :anxiety.
“Worry is a down payment on a problem you may never have.”
“80% of people’s problems are about how they feel about themselves.”
“We need a backbone, not a wishbone.” ( Joyce Meyer)
We have all heard that 90% of what people worry about never happens. Why do we spend so much time worrying?
Do we anticipate something bad happening more easily than trusting something good happening?
The things that knock your socks off are rarely anticipated or on your radar to even worry about. Think about the people in Las Vegas last night listening to a country concert. Just about the time they were heading home after the last song, a shooter started picking them off from the 32nd floor of the hotel across the street. The latest victim count is 60 dead and 500+ injured. One person described the scene as a “kill pen” due to the concert security and the position of the shooter. Who was worried about that happening? We had no indication and there was no reason to expect a deranged man to murder innocent people he had never met and for what may never be understood.
The same is true of island living. Would the people making their home or dreaming of retiring at the US VI or Puerto Rico have ever seen the Hurricanes Irma and Maria coming and the devastation they have wreaked in their pathway? Not me. I even considered moving to the US VI and not one time did this ever cross my mind as a worry to have or try not to have.
Worry can’t help you. Action can. If we took action on everything we worry about, we couldn’t complete our normal activities of daily living. Worry is fear of the unknown and anxiety over what could happen.
A worry filter is needed with a risk/benefit ratio for every worry. Is worrying about a nuclear war going to help you? No, but if you prefer to survive a first strike, perhaps you should be preparing a food/survival plan? I can’t abide the worriers who are always forecasting doom and pointing to what ‘should be done’ who never do anything. Their worry is like a broadcast from Orson Welles- fictional or at best negative for everyone in earshot.
I like the biblical approach to worry outlined in Bible Gateway.
Worry is a sense of uneasiness and anxiety about the future. Scripture indicates that such anxiety is ultimately grounded in a lack of trust in God and his purposes.
The causes of worry
Being world-centred Mt 6:25 pp Lk 12:22 See also Mt 6:34; Mt 13:22 pp Mk 4:19pp Lk 8:14; Lk 12:29; Lk 21:34; 1Co 7:33
Lacking confidence in God Jn 14:1 See also Mt 6:26-32 pp Lk 12:27-30; Mt 8:25pp Mk 4:38 pp Lk 8:24; Mt 14:31; Mt 16:8
Abandoning God Dt 28:64-65 See also La 1:3; Eze 4:16-17; Eze 12:19
Worry leads people away from God
Ps 37:8 See also Pr 12:25; Mt 13:22 pp Lk 8:14; Lk 10:40-42
Worry is futile
Mt 6:27 pp Lk 12:25 See also Ecc 2:22-23
Remedies for worry
Being God-centred Isa 26:3; Mt 6:33 pp Lk 12:31 See also Jer 17:7-8; Ro 8:6
Prayer Ps 55:22; Php 4:6-7 See also Ps 94:18-19; Ps 139:23; 1Pe 5:7
A definition and a solution. What more do we need to remove worry or agonizing over what ‘might be’ out of our lives?
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