I am a huge worrier. I always have been. I had such bad anxiety as a kid I would literally pull out my own hair. There was a period of time that I had bald spots all over my head. This is not the life God has called us to. No lover of Jesus should suffer from such crippling anxiety that they pull out their own hair. He has so much more for us.
Recently I had a meeting with a client whose website I am working on. She knew about my upcoming trip and began asking me about it. She said, “There are so many things that could go wrong, aren’t you worried about that?” Without thinking, these words escaped my mouth, “I can’t spend my life worrying about the things that could happen and miss the things that should happen.” That shocked even myself. I instantly felt peace and believed what I had just said. There are too many things to worry about to spend time worrying about them.
I’m sure there are tons of books written on this topic, but I’m not sure that worry is anything we can physically cure. This is just from my personal experience, and I have no data or facts to offer up in support of this. There are so many scriptures that address this issue (Matthew 6:25-27, Matthew 11:28-30, Luke 12:25, Colossians 3:15, etc.) and they’re easy to repeat to yourself, but so much harder to apply. Here’s my theory: I think worry is only solved with complete surrender. We cannot do anything ourselves to fix worry except pressing into Him. One of the many scriptures that addresses worry (Matthew 11:28-35) calls us to go to Him and promises rest for our souls.
As recently as just a few weeks ago I was so worried about my life when I returned from the World Race. I haven’t even left, and I’m worrying about my return? One of my biggest concerns was not being able to find a job when I get back. That worry stems off into a thousand others … not being able to pay rent, loss of independence, paying bills, etc. Lately, I’ve experience such peace in this area that it can only be explained by his promise to us in Philippians 4:7.
Worry is absolutely consuming, it exhausts the soul, and it is from the Devil himself. Run to him all who are weary and you will find rest.
