I’m a worrier.  I try to pretend like I’m not, but truthfully I struggle every single day with big and little things.  As a wife and mother, there are so many things to worry about.  Everything from finances to health, safety, will my children make good decisions, etc..  The list could go on and on as I’m sure you know.

This idea of worry and anxiousness has been on my mind a lot this week.  This past week, I received some medical news that wasn’t great.  My first reaction was to freak out a bit and allow my mind to entertain all sorts of troubling scenarios.  As I was lying in bed one night, not sleeping due to run away thoughts.  It occurred to me-what good is all this worry doing?  I mean seriously!  I’ve said those words to others before and they have been said to me.  But had I ever really thought about the fact that it (worry) really brings or does nothing good!  In this instance it was keeping me from much needed rest, making me more anxious and agitated.  None of those good things.

So, the next morning I decided to do some research.  Here are a few things I discovered:

• Worry (as defined by Webster’s Dictionary) is: to think about problems or fears, to afflict with mental distress or agitation; make anxious.

• Anxious is: afraid or nervous specifically about what may happen, ill at ease  insecure, queasy, jumpy or perturbed.

Those were the exact things I was feeling, and none of them were any good!  What I knew and was being reminded of is that – Worry and anxiety are weapons of our enemy.  They are the opposite of trusting and depending on God.  Scripture has quite a bit to say on this subject as well:

• 1 Peter 5:6-7 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

Notice that is says “all”, you know what all means?  It means ALL!  Every single one, big, little and everything in between.

• Luke 12:21-31 is a familiar passage about worry, but I’m wondering do we really understand what it says and take it to heart? I was not.  This is what Luke reports Jesus to have said:  “And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?   If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”

Check our verse 25 (italicized) again.  Worry is not adding anything to my life!  So why am I wasting my time on it?

The enemy loves us to worry and feel anxious.  He uses these things to distract us and increase our doubts about God and his goodness.  Take a look at these next two verses:

• Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces.”

• 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

There are times when I am utterly aware of my level of immaturity as a Christian. This is one of those times!  The level of my worry shows the level of faith or lack there of in God.  I long for the day when my faith is the greater of the two!