Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Worry #4:

I think can say "Never."
The Bible never tells us to simply quit doing something. It always gives us a worthwhile activity to take the place of the negative practice it tells us to stop. In the case of worry, which the Bible says to not do, there are actually a couple of activities the Lord tells us to put in its place.

The most straight-forward substitution is found in Philippians 4:6, "Don't worry, pray." (paraphrase summary) It has been said that there are likely many things that can be done about a problem after prayer, but nothing of consequence can be done until we have prayed. ". . . in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." (Philippians 4:6)
In Jesus teaching about the avoidance of anxiety He counseled trust, based on the knowledge of and our experience of the way things are and Who He is (Matthew 6:25-30). What is really important in life? The answer to that question tends to be what we don't worry about. And, don't you think your Heavenly Father knows and cares? The answer to that is affirmative, in which case, why am I wasting my time worrying? The summary of all of that is, Jesus is instructing us to trust God, which is the foundation of prayer. Why would you pray to a God you don't trust? And, if you do believe that He is benevolent and powerful, why would you not pray to Him?
I think it is Warren Wiersbe who once described trusting God as "living without conniving." How often I find myself, when faced with worry-inducing situations, concocting plans, creating scenarios, evaluating possible-though often improbable-outcomes in my mind rather than following Hezikiah's example. He "spread it out before the LORD." (Isaiah 37:14)

Often, when our natural habit is to slip into worry, there are other actions we can take after we have prayed, but let's make sure we begin there.

It's STTA.

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