I have a confession to make. I worry a lot. (And my sense is that I'm not alone in this!) I know I shouldn't. I know, it's not Biblical to worry. I know the verses and scripture on the subject. But seriously, flowers don't have brains and the birds of the air aren't doing that much better from an IQ standpoint......
I like what Zig Ziglar says about worry:
"Worry has been described as "interest paid on trouble before it comes due."
One of America's worst enemies is worry. Worry is like a rocking chair, it requires a lot of energy and gets you nowhere.Americans take more pills to forget more worries about more things than ever before, and more than any other nation in history. That's bad. According to Dr. Charles Mayo, "Worry affects the circulation and the whole nervous system. I've never known a man who died from overwork, but I've known many who have died from doubt." Doubt always creates worry and in most cases, lack of information raises the doubt.
Mathematically speaking, it really doesn't make sense to worry. Psychologists and much research tells 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%. Plainly speaking, Americans are worrying 92% of the time for no good reason and, if Dr. Mayo is right, it's killing us.
So what's a guy like me to do? What do you do? (I'd love for you to post some of your favorite verses or things you do to combat worry!) I've found a couple of things that work reasonably well for me. One is that I exercise. Another is that I seem to find humor in very strange places. Almost anything can seem funny to me at various times if I pay close enough attention. People will say to me, "just don't worry!" (But that never works because then I worry about being such a worrier......).
For me, the key is to realize that I am worrying about something, and then to name it very specifically. (And realize that it's OK and relatively normal) Then I simply bring it to the Lord, and turn it over to him. I'll pray something like, "Lord I'm worried about _____________, and I have no control over this situation. I'm going to hand it off to you and let you deal with it." I'd love to tell you I do this every night right before I go to sleep. Sorry, but I don't. I usually remember to do this at 2:00 AM after I've lost a lot of sleep worrying about something I should have turned over at 10:00 PM. (This of course makes me mad and I regret not doing it sooner!) Anyway, I almost always fall right to sleep once I had it over to the Lord.
It is comforting to know that even when I am worrying in the middle of the night, God is awake and ready to put me at peace. He wants to shoulder my burdens, and yours too.
Jon
