How to Defeat Worry
By Kelly Balarie
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” – Phil. 4:6-7 NKJV
I wanted my daughter’s birthday party to be perfect, but what if something went wrong? What if she didn’t like the bunk bed that we’d spent countless hours searching for? What if I spent too much money on it? What if it wasn’t stable when it arrived at the house?
I didn’t get her any bunk bed – I got her the super special one. The expensive one. I went above and beyond.
Now, there was pressure tied to this purchase. I will be upset if she doesn’t like it because of how much I have invested in this. I will be annoyed if we have to tear it down after all the assembly required.
Worrying wreaks havoc on joy. Worry is pressure.
Worry is pressure because everything may go wrong. Worry is pressure to make things go a specific way. Worry is pressure to avoid the worst from happening. Worry is pressure that people respond how we want them to.
Worry wrestles with the forces we cannot control. The worst part about worry is that it not only tear us up on the inside but it causes others to suffer the brunt of it as well.
If my daughter doesn’t like this bed that I’ve invested so much into, I’ll feel annoyed at her. I’ll think she is ungrateful. Worrying wreaks havoc on joy.
Where might we feel worried? Are we worried about work? A family member? A house issue? A future that looks dim? And, what is the alternative to worry?
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” – Phil. 4:6-7 NKJV
In this verse, God gives us a clear-cut way to defeat worry. Let’s break it down some. We first, tell ourselves, “I refuse to be anxious. I will not be anxious for anything.” In this, we decide and resolve that there is no thing worth us being anxious about. We draw a line in the sand.
Further, we pray and ask God to handle the thing we need. As we pray, we rest our scary problem into his capable hands. By doing this, we fully release it. Just as you might catch a fish and release it back into the water, we release the burden entirely and let it float away from us.
God is big enough to handle it. We thank God for this. We thank God that He hears our prayer, and that He, in all His might and power, is handling we cannot effectively handle on our own.
Finally, because we recognize God’s bigness, we can receive His peace. He has this worry in His hands. He knows the best way. He will give us all we need to confront the issue. He has the equipping grace and will afford us what we need. He knows the end from the beginning.
This brings peace.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
What do you tend to worry about? Worry is like a carousel of thoughts; the endless circling of a problem gets one nowhere. Just think: A carousel never travels any markable distance. It just runs circles around the center of the issue. How has worry ever helped you gain ground? How solved anything? What would it look like for you to put your worries into the hands of God? He created the whole world; don’t you think He can handle what you face today?
Photo Credit: tommaso79
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