Friday, October 23, 2015

A Good Antidote
By Susan Klein

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

As I look back over my fifty-some years of life, I have to wonder how much of that time was spent worrying about things I couldn’t control. How many days, weeks even, did I lose to worry? (I believe the converse of the above verse to also be true.) And the thing is, none of my worrying changed the outcome of any of those situations. In God’s sovereignty, He allowed the rain to fall and the sun to shine. The outcome was in His divine control, and my fretting did not change a thing. The only things worry did change were my peace of mind and my health.

So why do we do it? Why do we spend so much of our time fretting about matters small and large that are going to happen, or not happen, regardless? I used to think it was a major design flaw. God must have given us a faulty wire somewhere along the way. After all, He created us with a vast and detailed emotional network, so He must have made a mistake. But, wisdom eventually knocked on my faulty thinking and showed me that worry is a choice, not an emotion. Granted, some people are more prone to worry or even have anxiety disorders, but they will be the first to tell you that they have to make a conscious choice to “not worry.”

God has equipped us with the ability to choose, and we must choose trust over worry. Jesus tells us in the Gospels that we will  have trials in this life. He also exhorts us to not worry about things we need because our heavenly Father knows what we need before we do. He will not leave us high and dry! He may not give us our desired outcome, but He will give us what we need to sustain us in each and every situation. Perhaps if we could truly fathom His outrageous love, mercy and grace, we’d choose to worry a whole lot less. Maybe that’s the antidote: wonder, not worry. Learn more about God, His character, and His attributes so we can choose to be secure in Him. Besides, the time we spend with Him is time we won’t spend worrying.

In the words of Corrie Ten Boom, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows. It empties today of its strength.”


GOING DEEPER:
1.  What types of situations trip your worry trigger?
2.  Try increasing your time spent in God’s Word and in prayer, getting better acquainted with Him.

FURTHER READING:

Susan is married to Mark, and has two adult children. She enjoys teaching Bible studies, writing, and tutoring with the Literacy Council. She is a member of the Peace Team at Oakwood.