Why Worry?

Sometimes "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine" (Proverbs 17:22) just doesn't cut it, right? I know it's not easy to trust God when the bills come. Or when family members are sick. Or when your dreams never seem to come true. Or when your enemies triumph over you. What do you do with worry then? I mean, this is worry's breeding ground.

As I thought about this cancerous characteristic in my life this weekend, I realized that the answer to worry is WORRY.

WAIT on the Lord.
Worry manifests itself the most in the moments when I refuse to be patient (another dominant struggle of mine). Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, & He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." Twice I am commanded to wait on the Lord. Why? So He can strengthen my heart in Him. Still not conviced? Check out Isaiah 40:31 & Psalm 40:1. God is listening to your worries, be sure you are willing to wait on Him.

OMIT insecurities.
In order to truly strengthen my faith in Christ, I must omit the insecurities in my life by admitting them to Christ. I cannot move forward if I am looking back. For me, omitting insecurities means recognizing that I can accomplish nothing outside of Christ. 1 Peter 5:7 encourages believers to "[Cast] all your care upon Him; for He cares for you." Do you realize that cast off means to fling or throw away. When you & I cast our cares on Christ, we're not setting them casually to the side where we can reach them again; no! we are flinging them away with such force that recollecting them would be impossible. Am I really casting all my cares on the One who cares for me?

RELY on the Lord.
Two summers ago I worked at my church's summer camp as a youth counselor. Each week I led my cabin of 4-8 girls into the woods to complete an obsticle course while learning about teamwork. Most of the activities were completed with ease, but there was one activity nearly every cabin tried to avoid: Faith Fall. Not a tremendously terrifying looking activity. Just a wooden platform nailed to a tree about 6 feet in the air. The goal: one girl stands on the platform & falls backwards off the plank into the loving arms of her cabinmates. No big deal, right? Wrong. Trust is such an easy word to say but a hard action to carry out. I mean, what if they drop me? When I worry, I am telling God, "Hey, thanks for dying for my sins, but I really don't believe that You're going to catch me when I fall." How stupid is that?! Psalm 37:3-5 tells me to "Trust in the Lord, & do good; . . . Commit thy way until the Lord; trust also in Him; & He shall bring it to pass." Fall into the arms of Christ--lean all your weight on Him--He will catch you. [Other verses I love that remind me to rely on the Lord are Proverbs 3:5-6; Psalm 27:13-14.]

REJOICE in the Lord.
Psalm 42:5 asks, "Why are thou cast down, O my soul? & why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God:" Everytime I find myself enslaved to the cancerous characteristic of worry I reprimand myself--why am I worried when my hope rests in the Lord? Remember, worry is the absence of trust. Worry is choosing to complain about the situation God has chosen to lead you through. In Philippians 4:4, Paul admonishes believers to "Rejoice in the Lord always: & again I say, Rejoice!" I am commanded to rejoice in the Lord always. No exceptions. [God has a plan for your life: rejoice in it! Jeremiah 29:11; Psalm 118:24)

YEARN after the Lord & His will.
When I shared this with my junior high girls' Sunday School class, I received puzzled looks: "What is yearn, Miss Lawson?" I didn't realize I had chosen such an ancient word! To yearn after something is to have an earnest or strong desire for something; to be moved or attracted toward something. To yearn after Christ means to be consumed with a crazy love for the Savior of your soul! Psalm 27:8 says, "When You said, 'Seek My face"; my hear said back to You, 'Your face, Lord, will I seek.'"

Worry is a deblitating cancer, but there is a cure! Wait on the Lord. Omit your insecurities by admitting your weakness. Rely on the Lord with all your strength. Rejoice in Him always. Yearn desperately for His soul. Next time you're worried, let WORRY return you to your joy.