As we end these thoughts on WORRY and as we finish looking at God’s wisdom concerning WORRY, I will leave you with these thoughts: WORRY is a futile thing. It’s something like a rocking chair It will keep you occupied But it won’t get you anywhere.
A wise man once said, “There ain’t no use worrying over what you have control over, because if you have control over it, there’s no use worrying about it. There’s no use worrying about what you don’t have control over, because if you don’t have control over it there’s no use worrying about it.” That covers everything, doesn’t it?
I pray that as WE wrestle with events and things in our lives……… that we apply Jesus’ wisdom. That we will realize that worry serves no purpose and is futile. I pray that we will ask God to take worry from us as it comes into our life. I pray that we will take positive action in situations both before they arise and after they happen, actions that head off troubles at the pass. I pray that we will seek God first and seek to do what is right and what is responsible in our lives. AND, I pray that we will live one day at a time, thanking God for His provision, handling each worry as it arises and not allowing ourselves to be paralyzed and driven down. Seek God first, seek His wisdom. Ask Him for strength in our trials as well as for the wisdom to do to do the hard right over the easy wrong.
Philippians 4:6-7 (The Message Version)
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Lastly, it is important that we allow God’s peace to replace the worry in our lives that leads to anxiety and chains us down. God’s peace is much different than the worlds peace. Here is the secret: True peace is found in positive thinking. It is found in the absence of conflict in our lives and it is found in good feelings. It all starts with knowing that God is in control. When we recognize that, we humble ourselves in knowing that God, indeed Jesus, is with us and we WANT Him to guide us with His wisdom. We accept our own shortcomings and seek to strengthen them with His presence and the application of His wisdom in our lives.
We do this by immersing ourselves in daily conversation with our maker, Jesus. We do this by asking for His strength as we apply His wisdom to our lives: forgiveness, forgiveness and more forgiveness (did I mention forgiveness?) Apply His wisdom of resisting the temptations of those things in our lives that tear us down (sin)….like alcohol, drugs, promiscuous sex, greed, selfishness, laziness, feelings of empowerment and entitlement. Apply His wisdom of serving and loving others. Apply His wisdom seeking peace and honesty in our relationships. Live in worship every day which is simply appreciating God’s provision, love and refuge in our lives. Praising Him for being there.
Let God’s peace guard YOUR heart against anxiety. You can do it….it’s better than living a life of worry.
John 14:27 (TNIV, Jesus is speaking)
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.“This is the peace offered to us. Christians do not need pleasures, affluence, influence, gratification of desires. Instead, they obtain peace through fellowship with God. Their peace is within, and the world cannot understand it, nor can it take that peace away.” ~~ M. G. Gutzke