Slaying The Giant of Worry
March 21, 2023
Doctor David Jeremiah. The pastor of the Shadow Mountain Church in San Diego is a prolific writer. One of his most recent books is entitled “Slaying the Giants in Your Life.” One of those giants he identifies as the giant of worry. I think each of us understands the meaning of worry as it relates to our own personal lives.
My favorite verse in the entire Bible is found in the book of Philippians. Chapter 4 verses six and seven. These are the words that the Apostle Paul writes.
“Be anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. Will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Worry
Worry is the time we spend fretting about that which usually doesn’t happen. The old saying, “Making a mountain out of a molehill”, is descriptive of worry.
Dr. Thomas Buzzbee, my physician friend, has a plaque on the wall of his office that states an answer for overcoming worry: “Don’t tell God how big your mountain is. Tell the mountain how big your God is”. We have a descriptive name for people who worry all the time. They are called worry warts. Don’t be one.
There is a difference between legitimate concerns and useless worry. Fret not!
He chose Wednesday as a worrying day.
J. Arthur Rank, an English executive, decided to do all his worrying on one day each week. He chose Wednesdays. When anything happened that gave him anxiety and annoyed his ulcer, he would write it down and put it in his worry box and forget about it until the next Wednesday.
The interesting thing was that on the following Wednesday when he opened his worry box, he found that most of the things that had disturbed him the past six days were already settled. It would have been useless to have worried about them. Source unknown
The Second 10 Commandments
1. Thou shalt not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.
2. Thou shalt not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass.
3. Thou shalt not cross bridges before you come to them, for no one yet has succeeded in accomplishing this.
4. Thou shalt face each problem as it comes. You can only handle one at a time anyway.
5. Thou shalt not take problems to bed with you, for they make very poor bedfellows.
6. Thou shalt not borrow other people's problems. They can better care for them than you can.
7. Thou shalt not try to re-live yesterday. For good or ill, it is forever gone. Concentrate on what is happening in your life and be happy now!
8. Thou shalt be a good listener. Only when you listen do you hear ideas different from your own. It is hard to learn something new when you are talking, and some people do know more than you do.
9. Thou shalt not become "bogged down" by frustration, for ninety percent of it is rooted in self-pity and can only interfere with positive action.
10. Thou shalt count thy blessings, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one.
“There is no favorable wind for the sailor who doesn’t know where to go”. – Seneca
