Worrier to Warrior – Part 1

Confession time.  I can be a worrier.  Hands up!  Anyone relate?

Some people worry about everything and everyone.  Their minds are on a one-way track to the intersection of what if and worst-case scenario.  Their journeys are riddled with fears about health, work, finances, the world, friendships, school, home, pets.   Or what I like to call the comparison worries:  Am good I enough? Pretty enough?  Handsome enough?  Smart enough?  Capable?  And the dreaded “Am I a good Christian?” (p.s. see last week’s blogs for the answer!). 

I am more of a selective worrier than a chronic worrier.  Sure, I worry about the things mentioned above at times.  We all do.  But the dig your heels in kinda worry?  The relentless, “my mind won’t turn off worry?”   The worry that fills you with dread so heavy you feel like you can’t breathe? For me, that is almost always linked to my family, especially my daughter.  When I sent her off to college this fall, my worry escalated to unhealthy levels.  For the first time, she was going to be on her own to make daily decisions for her life without immediate guidance from me or her father.  We raised our daughter to be strong and independent and to advocate for herself.   She’s a remarkable young woman.  However, the adjustment to college (three states away) and the pressures associated with social acceptance, academic performance, and holding on to one’s faith was a significant transition – for mother and daughter.  And if I’m honest, it was harder for me.  I felt out of control.  Which is, ironically, right where I should be.

To say I learned a lot about worry this year is an understatement.  God has been working in me in a mighty way over the last nine months.   Friends who have known me throughout this journey have remarked at the change they’ve seen in me.  It has been an ongoing, deliberate effort.  And it isn’t always easy.  But what I do know is that we are not designed to worry.  God never intended us to take on the unknowns of the world.  That’s his domain.

Perhaps the most recognized scripture about worry is Matthew 6:25-34:  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[a]?

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

That’s a lot of talk about worry.  In these scriptures, according to Strong’s Greek 3309:  worry means to be over-anxious; distracted.  It is a verb in present imperative active tense.  OK, hang with me those of you who aren’t grammar nerds.  This is important.  When this tense is used in the Greek, it is a command that is expected to be followed not once, but as an ongoing process.  Let me repeat that, this isn’t a “hey don’t worry about THIS or THAT right now.”  This is  command to not worry.  Period.

Jesus isn’t telling His disciples not to think about things or plan for things.  He expects us to work.  To pray.  To partner with Him.  He has equipped us with knowledge, wisdom, and gifts and we are to use those in our daily lives to honor Him.  The problem is when we decide that we can control the future and what happens to us and those we love by worrying rather than relying on God.  Jesus is telling His disciples not to waste their time worrying about what God has already promised to provide. 

The only person that worry benefits is the enemy.  Anything that distracts you from Jesus is a weapon in satan’s hands.  When you are distracted with worry your focus isn’t on Jesus.  It is on you.  You are saying that you have the ability to fix or control whatever situation has you anxious.  All. By. Yourself.  You are elevating yourself to a position of power and control you were never created to hold.  Worry is designed to separate you from God.  And the enemy uses worry well, disguising it as concern or planning or preparation.  But worry is plain and simply not trusting God.  Ouch.

When we give in to worry, it can result in missed opportunities to be used by God to reach others, to grow in your spiritual journey, to role model the love and grace of Jesus Christ.  If the enemy can keep you bound in fear than he can steal  your zeal for the Lord.  You will be distracted by worrying about whether you can serve well enough that you end up not serving at all.  What if Peter’s anxiety over his denial of Jesus or Thomas’ shame over his doubt stifled their testimonies for the rest of their lives?  Others would have shared the Gospel, but these two men would have missed out on all God had planned for them.

Do not miss out on what God has planned for you.  Do not be distracted or anxious.  It isn’t easy to put aside the worries of the natural world.  When those feelings of worry creep in, pray!  When the fears of all the what ifs overwhelm you, cry out to Jesus. When your mind won’t turn off, recite scripture.  Two of my “go to” verses when I become anxious or worried are:  Isaiah 41:10:  “Do not fear for I am with you.  Do not be dismayed for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and keep you.  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  and Philippians 4:6-7:  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Jesus died that you would never have to worry about who you are and whose you are.   God loves you infinitely more than you can fathom.  He wants to bless you.  And His desire is that you give your worries to Him. Not just once.  Not just today.  But always. 

I hope you’ll join me next week when we continue this discussion about going from a worrier to a warrior!