THE WORTHLESSNESS OF WORRY

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you – 1 Peter 5: 6-7

“It seems unbelievable, but people can literally worry themselves to death. A thirty-two-year study…found that men who were anxious were four-and-a-half times more likely to suffer heart attacks than their worry-free counterparts. Modern medical research has proven that worry breaks down resistance to disease. More than that, it actually diseases the nervous system, and particularly affects the digestive organs and the heart. When we add to this the toll of sleepness nights and days void of contentment, we glimpse the stranglehold worry has on the human heart. Worry doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.

We know worry is destructive, and yet we continue to be choked by anxiety over what might happen. One ma, looking for a solution to worry, drew up what he called a Worry Chart, in which he kept a record of his worries. He discovered that 40 percent of them were about things that probably would never happen; 30 percent concerned past decisions that he could not now unmake; 12 percent dealt with other people’s criticism of him; and 10 percent were worries about his health. He concluded that only 8 percent of his worries were really legitimate.

Perhaps the most striking characteristic of worry is its absolute impotence. Worry never changes a single thing except the worrier. History has no record of worry warding off disaster. No tornado has been prevented, no drought averted, no plane kept from crashing, no child kept from falling off his bike, no teenager stopped from skipping classes or trying drugs. No heart attacks have ever been avoided through worry (though a great number have been caused by it). Worry is definitely counterproductive. Like…a rocking chair, it doesn’t get us anywhere, but at least it gives us something…

How many of our hours, our days, are spent worrying about things over which we have no control and things that will never happen? There’s no disputing the fact that, nine times out of ten, worrying about a thing does more damage to our body, soul, and spirit that the actual thing itself.

…Jesus labels worry, or anxiety, a sign of faith problem…Instead of being anxious, we are to fix our focus on God and His righteousness. The Living Bible makes it crystal clear: “So don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time” (Matthew 6: 34). Certainly, we are to pray, plan, and prepare for tomorrow, but we are not to worry about what might happen. The load of tomorrow added to that of yesterday, carried today, make even the strongest…stumble. We are to entrust all our tomorrows to Him and live just today.”