Philippians 4:6 KJV
‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God.’
DAILY READING Hebrews 8; Exodus 5:1-6:27; Proverbs 1
One of man’s greatest enemies is worry. J. Arthur Rank, a devout Christian, and one of the early pioneers of the film industry in Great Britain, found he had a problem with worry. So he made a pact with God to limit his worrying to only on Wednesdays. He even made himself a little Wednesday Worry Box and he placed it on his desk. Whenever a worry cropped up, Rank wrote it out and dropped it into the Wednesday Worry Box. However when Wednesday came, and he opened that box, he would find that only a third of the items he had written, were still worth worrying about. The rest had managed to resolve themselves.
Psychologists tell us that roughly 40% of what we worry about will never happen and 30% has already happened. Additionally, 12% of our worries are over unfounded health concerns. Another 10% of our worries involve the daily miscellaneous fretting that accomplishes nothing. That leaves only 8%. In other words, people are worrying 92% of the time for no good reason.
Worry has been described as interest paid on trouble before it comes due. Worry is like a rocking chair; requiring a lot of energy, and yet it gets you nowhere.
The Bible in Philippians 4:6 says, ‘be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God.’ Here, we are asked to hand over the objects of our worry to God through prayers and thanksgiving. In other words, why worry when you can pray?
Trust in God is what destroys worry, because when we trust Him, we know He is in control of our lives. We look to Him in every situation knowing that He will definitely work things out to our favor. This enables us to maintain a joyful attitude in the face of any challenge.
God said in Jeremiah 29:11 that the thoughts He thinks towards us are thoughts of good and not of evil. This means that whatever happens around us, even if it may not look good now, eventually, God will work it all out for our good. This is what causes us not to run fret or worry in the face of challenges.
Worrying, in fact, is an indication of lack of trust in God. When we worry, it is because we think we are in control and we are pressured to steer things in the direction we want. Being constantly under pressure for things to go in our desired direction can affect the health. Doctors say worrying affects the circulation and the whole nervous system.
Hebrews 4:10 says, ‘For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works.’ It is only when we quit doing our own things that we can enter into rest. When we begin to seek God’s will and do only what He commands, then there will be no need for worry.
Jesus put it plainly, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me.” When we believe in God and trust in Him, then our hearts will not be troubled. Faith in God is the answer to worry.
PRAYER: Lord, please help me to stop worrying about things I have no control over, I trust You are in control of my life, and I know that even right now You are working out everything for my good in Jesus’ name.
QUOTE
Those who throw pity parties stay in the pit longer…
[ADAPTED FROM THE BOOK REJOICE]