What is worry?

Worry is failing to trust in God and stirring up your own anxiety. And it is a colossal waste of time.

I find it interesting that our English word "worry" comes from an old German term meaning to strangle or choke. And that's exactly what worry will do. It will create a mental and emotional stranglehold on your life. Far from making things better, it consistently makes matters worse. When you worry about the future, you cripple yourself in the present.

Every day has its own quota of problems. That's life! Some of these "issues" are constant day to day. Others come and go. When you get up in the morning, you will find yourself with a daily quota of challenges, adversities and difficulties. (No one gets around that.)

What you don't want to do is go after tomorrow's quota as well! In other words, you don't want to start worrying about things that haven't even shown up yet. Because guess what? They may not show up at all! When you worry about the future, you severely diminish your abilities to handle today's challenges. The fact is, worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of it's sorrow; it empties today of its strength.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:34, "Don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Every day has enough trouble on its own." God will give you the strength to face each and every day. He says that His grace is sufficient for us. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He won't abandon you in your hour of your need. But if you allow yourself to be locked up by worry, you will only compound your troubles.

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An old fable speaks of Death walking toward a city one morning. Along the way, a man stopped Death and said, "Why are you heading toward the city? What do you intend to do there?" Death said, "I'm going to take 100 people." The man was shocked. "That's horrible!" he said. Death simply shrugged and said, "This is what I do. It's the way it is."

Thinking to foil the plan, the man hurried ahead of Death into the town to warn everyone of what was coming. As evening fell, he met Death again. The man said, "You told me you were going to take a hundred people. Why did a thousand die?"

"I kept my word," Death responded, "I took only a hundred people. Worry took the others."

In his letter to the church at Philippi, the apostle Paul gives some practical information about what we should do instead of worrying.

Paul writes: "Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:4-6, NLT).

Powerful words. Yet when you learn of the setting in which the apostle penned these truths, they become even more potent. Paul wrote these words in chains, imprisoned in a dark, putrid Roman dungeon. That is significant. If we learned that Paul was sunbathing on a beach in Crete, having a glass of iced tea, we might be tempted to say, "It was easy for him to say 'don't worry,' because he was living the good life."

But he wasn't. Far from it. He had been arrested on false charges, thrown into prison and was awaiting his fate. As far as he knew, he could be separated from his head the next morning. Then again, he might be acquitted. He simply didn't know.

What a pathetic, miserable situation he found himself in. And yet with a full heart he was able to say, "Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice!" Paul didn't waste time with worry. He prayed, he experienced great peace, and he was full of joy.

Many of us justify our worry by saying, "Well, you just don't understand. I'm in some really hard circumstances right now." I know it's hard. But the Bible doesn't ask us to rejoice in our circumstances, it urges us to rejoice in the Lord. No matter what you may be facing in your life right now, God is still on the throne. He still loves you. His plans for you are still good. He promises never to leave you or forsake you.

Notice that Paul writes, "Pray about everything." He doesn't say, "Pray about some things," or "pray about the really big things." This reminds us that nothing is too big and nothing is too small to bring to God in prayer. He is interested in even the smallest of details.

The next time you find yourself tempted to worry, try something different. Pray instead. We need to get into the habit of turning to God when we feel worry approaching.

Your reaction in times of trouble should be like a conditioned reflex. Do you know the difference between a normal reflex and a conditioned reflex? A normal reflex isn't taught, it's automatic. If I reach out and touch a hot iron, I yank my hand back. I didn't have to teach myself to do that. Even a small baby would pull his hand away from something hot.

When you were learning to drive, you had to consciously think about everything you did. I'm coming to a light, hit the brake. I need to turn. Flip the turn signal. Now when you drive, do you still think about those things? No. You train yourself and develop a set of conditioned reflexes.

When we find ourselves assaulted by worry, it is not our natural tendency to stop and pray. In fact, in many cases our automatic response is to embrace that worry. What if this happens? What about that? And then worry begins to mushroom, taking over our minds.

A conditioned reflex works more like this: When you find yourself wondering, What if this happens? you teach yourself to reply, "I don't know. I'd better pray about that." And you intentionally place that matter in the hands of the Lord.

So what do you do when your knees start knocking? Kneel on them.

Worry accomplishes nothing. Prayer accomplishes more than we'll ever understand.