Greetings in the Strong Name of Jesus!

Worry
Proverbs 12:25 -” Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.”  NLT

I’ve got to get this done today.  I wonder how the kids are doing?  I wonder if the baby is, okay?  How can I make it to the end of the month without running out of money?  I don’t know if I can buy any more gas this week.  How will I tell my boss about this?  Will I make it to heaven?  How is my 401k doing? I wonder if I will get audited by the IRS?

Have you ever asked those questions?  Asking the simple question is one thing, but have any of these issues consumed you to the point of headaches and nausea?  You might want to consider calling it what it is...worry.  And then you might want to call worry what it is...sin.  Our verse today tells us very simply...worry weighs you down.  I am not a doctor and don’t even pretend to be, but I know from my own experiences that worry can take a real toll on your mind and body.  I have read that worry can affect your joints causing arthritis like pain.  Worry can cause acid reflux like symptoms.  Worry can cause mental breakdowns.  Worry can cause headaches.  Worry can cause a general breakdown of the body to the point of depression in the mind and sickness in the body.  Worry can literally rob you of health...mental, emotional, physical, and relational.  Worry is a pointless, worthless, life robbing exercise because you can change nothing through worry.

“I just can’t help it.”, you say.  Well....if we consider worry to be sin (Jesus said not to worry) and we consider worry to be a human attempt to produce Godly results, we can begin to do something about it.  First, confess your sin.  Second, repent, walk away from, make a commitment to not live like this again.  Ask God for the power to leave worry behind.  Acknowledge your inadequacy to change people and things through worry.  Third, hit your knees...pray.  Praying is so much better than worrying.  Worrying keeps you in the human realm while praying takes you into the Heavenly realm where Someone lives Who can do something about people and circumstances.  Not only that, prayer will, like a good counseling session with a therapist, relieve you of the burden as you talk to God and get it out of your brain.  And if the concern begins to return, return to your knees.

One other thing.  Did you know that worry is often self-centered?  Worry tends to focus all concern, pain, attention, and action on you.  You can fix that, too.  First, focus on God and His desire and ability to take care of those things that concern you.  Second, focus on bringing encouraging words to another person who, like you, has all kinds of worries.  Go cheer someone up today.  Yourself, by taking your worries to God and somebody else, by sharing an encouraging word.

You are loved and prayed for,
Pastor Roger