Why We Worry

Read The Daily:
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me – John 14:1

If worrying was a professional sport, many of us would be the Most Valuable Player on our team. Can you identify with this? It’s so hard not to worry when troubles loom all around us. The word worry has a few definitions in the dictionary. One that’s interesting to me is to torment oneself with cares and anxieties. Every time we worry, we’re tormenting ourselves. No one else is making us do it or doing it to us—we’re doing it to ourselves. When we worry, we’re allowing our minds to dwell on difficult circumstances, overwhelming fears, and other stresses that are weighing us down. We’re consumed over actual things we’re facing or potential situations that may never occur. Worry causes extreme distress to all areas of our bodies. It prevents us from sleeping, impacts our relationships, affects our appetites, and causes us to perform poorly at work.

We tend to worry about what matters the most to us. It is also the place where we tend to trust God the least. When we have an extra amount of pressure put on us, we’re under stress. We worry about things we’re stressed about. Something we’re facing at work or home, with a friend or family member, or a fear that has overtaken us that we can’t seem to overcome affects us. And when we are stressed, we look for ways to cope. Some choose denial and others choose substances. Many choose worrying as their coping mechanism.

Imagine that worry is a fire. The more we allow worry to occupy our thoughts, the more fuel we are putting on the “worry” fire. The more we do this, the bigger the worry fire we’ll have to put out later. Most of our worry is directed toward things that might happen. The truth is that if you’re worrying about it, it’s dictating your life. It does nothing but make the problem bigger. What if we didn’t worry at all? How much extra time in the day would we have to devote to things that are positive and actually make a difference? The return on our investment would be unbelievable! We have a certain amount of mental and emotional energy each day, and we mustn’t give worry any of it.

This week, let’s learn what Jesus said about worry, how we can take steps to stop this toxic cycle, and how to work towards not letting it dominate our lives again.

Prayer for the Day

God what are you  showing me?  What am I going to do about it?
God help me to see one person that I can serve through a kind word, random act of kindness, or simple gift today?
Make sure you complete the reading or comment today.

Read The New Testament In A Year

4 x 6 Plan | Read: Mark 5:1-20 & 1 Corinthians 11:11-16

So they arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him. With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!” For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.” Then Jesus demanded, “What is your name?” And he replied, “My name is Legion, because there are many of us inside this man.” Then the evil spirits begged him again and again not to send them to some distant place. There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby. “Send us into those pigs,” the spirits begged. “Let us enter them.” So Jesus gave them permission. The evil spirits came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd of about 2,000 pigs plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water. The herdsmen fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. Then those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon-possessed man and the pigs. And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them.  Mark 5:1-20

And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ. I am so glad that you always keep me in your thoughts, and that you are following the teachings I passed on to you. But there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. A man dishonors his head if he covers his head while praying or prophesying. But a woman dishonors her head if she prays or prophesies without a covering on her head, for this is the same as shaving her head. Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair! But since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, she should wear a covering. A man should not wear anything on his head when worshiping, for man is made in God’s image and reflects God’s glory. And woman reflects man’s glory. For the first man didn’t come from woman, but the first woman came from man. And man was not made for woman, but woman was made for man. For this reason, and because the angels are watching, a woman should wear a covering on her head to show she is under authority. But among the Lord’s people, women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women. For although the first woman came from man, every other man was born from a woman, and everything comes from God. Judge for yourselves. Is it right for a woman to pray to God in public without covering her head? Isn’t it obvious that it’s disgraceful for a man to have long hair? And isn’t long hair a woman’s pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering. But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s other churches.  1 Corinthians 11:1-16

Read More – Bible Project Overviews: Mark, 1 Corinthians