WORRYWART

Have you ever thought about how much time you spend worrying in a day? If I could look at my life in pie chart form I wonder what percentage of it I have spent worrying - probably alot, either about something that just happened and what people will think of me as a result or about something in the future.

The crazy thing about worry though is that in either case, there is absolutely nothing I can do to change the things I worry about. There is nothing I can do that will effect what happened yesterday and I don't have a bit of control of what people think of me so there's no point fretting about that. The scriptures even remind of of this fact - that how we are seen in the eye's of God is far more important that how we are viewed in the eyes of men. And make ability to change things that haven't happened yet is pretty poor as well. I can't tell you have many times I have laid in bed at night worrying about school or work the next day and whether all the things that need to get done will. I realized lately that when I'm in bed worrying about these things that I can either get up and do something about it or wait until the next day to do something about it. Laying in bed worrying does zero good!

I'm not sure about you but the source of my worry is usually not because I'm ill-prepared for a test or challenge but because I am afraid of failure. At its core being afraid to fail is nothing more than an outward expression of our inward inability or lack of trust in God. God promised that that we will be strong in our weakness and sustain us in trying times. If this is the case, what are we afraid of? Sadness and joy, pain and pleasure, success and failure (in the world's eyes at least) are all parts of life that God uses to shape us into people who can bring glory to his name. Instead of fearing what tomorrow might bring, let's welcome whatever might come as another day to grow in our walk with the Lord.

Worry can't change a think about tomorrow, but it sure can cause you to miss out on today!

“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? 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 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? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.