Matthew 6:25-34
25"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 important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look 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? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If 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, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
If you know me then you know how much I worry. I worry about life, about school, about relationships, about friends, and so-on. Most of you may not know that I stopped reading my Bible a few years back. I have had a few bouts of re-dedications and would last a week, but then I always fall back into the slump. So when my mom mentioned Matt. 6 to me a few nights ago...I had this nagging feeling that I needed to pick up my Bible and read it. I read and I was stuck. God was talking to me. I read on to the following two sections and I knew for certain that He had a hand in me reading that passage (I will talk about the next two passages in my next blogs).
So I am going to try my hardest to greatly reduce the amount of time I spend on worrying. Any suggestions on how to succeed in this?
2 comments:
One thing that helps me is mentally slapping myself when I start thinking of a subject that I'm worrying about. After the mental slap, I shoot a quick prayer in God's direction, asking Him to take the worry. Then I find something (a book, a movie, calling a friend) that will force me to think of something other than what I am worrying about.
On another note: I totally understand the not reading the Bible thing. Until just before Christmas, it had been years since I had read my Bible somewhere else besides church. I'm currently reading a women's devotional book that looks at a chunk of Scripture every week. Monday-Friday has short entries discussing the reading. The weekends are for reading the upcoming week's chunk. It's actually working out really well. Why is it easier to read other books than read the Bible?
Val, I wish I knew a magic trick that made worry disappear. I think you come by yours honestly through your mom and grandma :)! I tend to be slightly pessimistic by nature, which makes me more of a worrier. However, I have really grown in this area in the past 3-4 months. I have learned to let go and to fully trust that God is more than competent to handle the problems in my life.
I agree with Hannah...prayer definitely helps. I have learned to just talk to God almost like I would anyone else and this has made Him more real to me. I can actually feel the weight lifting off my shoulders. I know you've been told this a million times before (I certainly have been told this!), but there is nothing good that comes from worrying. It basically is the opposite of hope and with Him, we have all the hope in the world!!
Another thing that helps me (a trick I learned from my anxiety therapist) is to ask myself, "What's the worst that could happen?" Then you give an answer. Next you say, "Well, then what? What's the worst that could happen?" And you continue to ask yourself this until you realize that the worst really isn't that bad afterall. It definitely doesn't deserve the amount of worry that you are giving it. You're certainly not going to die and your life won't be ruined if (fill in the blank) happens. Besides, even if these things were to happen, as Christians we know this isn't the end and we have so much more to look forward to.
Anyway, sorry to sound preachy, but I know that you will reach a point where you are able to let go of things and it is a great feeling (although it is something that us worriers always have to work at)! I will be praying that you have this peace! Love you!
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