VERSE: "Don't fret or worry.
Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions
and praises shape your worries into
prayers, letting God know your concerns.
Before you know it, a sense of God's
wholeness, everything coming together
for good, will come and settle you down.
It's wonderful what happens when Christ
displaces worry at the center of your
life." Philippians 4:6-7
Thought:
Two businessmen were talking about
the economic recession. Jack said, "I'm
about to lose my job and our house is in
foreclosure - but I don't worry about
it."
Bob, his friend, asked "How
can you not be worried?"
Jack
answered, "I've hired a professional
worrier. He does all my worrying for me.
That way I don't have to think about
it!"
Bob replied, "That's a
fantastic idea. How much does it cost to
hire a professional worrier?"
"$50,000 a year," Jack answered.
"$50,000! Where are you going to get
that kind of money?"
Jack
replied, "I don't know. That's HIS
worry!"
WORRY IS SOMETHING YOU
LEARNED TO DO - There is no such thing
as a "born worrier." It is a learned
response to life.
You learned to
worry from two sources:
1. You
learned to worry from experience - After
years of mistakes, failures and
unfulfilled expectations, you've
discovered that things don't always turn
out right. Out of these experiences, you
formed the habit of worrying.
2.
You learned to worry from examples -
There are many models around you.
Studies show that children usually pick
up their parent's worries. Anxious
parents raise anxious kids.
The
good news is that since worry is a
learned response to life it can also be
unlearned!
The starting point
for overcoming worry is to realize it is
useless. It does you no good to worry.
It is "stewing without doing." Worry has
never changed anything. Worry cannot
change the past. Worry cannot control
the future. Worry only makes you
miserable today.
Worry has never
solved a problem, never paid a bill, and
never cured an illness. It only
paralyzes you so you can't work on the
solution. Worry is like racing a car
engine in neutral - it doesn't get you
anywhere, it just uses up gas. "An
anxious heart weighs a man down."
Proverbs 12:25
On top of that,
worry exaggerates the problem. It plays
on your imagination. Have you ever
noticed that when you worry about a
problem it gets bigger?
Every
time you repeat it over and over in your
mind, you tend to add details -
amplifying it so you feel worse. What's
the solution?
Questions to consider:
***What are some things that are
worrying me today?
***What steps
can I take to help me focus more on God
and less on my sources of worry?
***Instead of worrying, talk to God
about what's worrying you. He is someone
who can do something about it.
IF YOU SPENT AS MUCH TIME PRAYING AS YOU
DO WORRYING - YOU'D HAVE A LOT LESS TO
WORRY ABOUT!
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