How To Overcome Worry

Some of these things are the usual things we face daily. They deal with...

• Relationships.

• The economy.

• Health.

• Schools.

• Neighborhood crime.

• Job security, etc.

There are so many things we can worry about today if we choose to do so.

Illus: This reminds me of the story of the man who applied for a job. The president of the company interviewed him, and told him, “The only vacancy we have is the job of Vice President.” He went on to say, “However, the man who takes on this job must take on all my worries.” The man applying for the job said, “Well, how much does it pay?” The president said, “I will pay you five thousand dollars a week!” The applicant said, “How could you afford to pay such a salary? Where would the money come from?” The president said, “That would be your first worry.”

Illus: A chaplain had this sign on his door, “If you are worried, come on in and we will talk about it. If not, come on in and tell us how you keep from worrying.”

Seriously, there is an abundance of worrying going on today.

What is so sad about this situation is that Christians, professing to know the Lord, worry as much as those who do not know the Lord.

Yes, Christians and non-Christians do a lot of worrying each day.

Illus: They do not even try to hide their worries. You can hear them state, “I am worried about this,” or “I am worried about that.”

Every time Christians say that, they are actually saying that they can not trust the Lord with their problems; their problems are bigger than the God they serve.

Since worrying has become a way of life for many folks, let us look at how we can find a solution to the problem of worrying. Before we can do that we need to consider at least two things. Let us look at the...

I. DEFINITION OF WORRY.

The word “worry” is derived from an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning, “To strangle or choke.” Now if you think worrying will help solve your problems you are sadly mistaken. There is a better way to deal with problems than being strangled or choked by them.

When a person worries all the time, this is exactly what is happening to him. He is having the very life choked out of him.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A PERSON WORRIES? WHEN A CHRISTIAN WORRIES HE HAS A DIVIDED MIND!

That is, one part of the mind is saying, “TRUST THE LORD,” and the other part is saying, “YOU HAD BETTER NOT TRUST THE LORD. HE WILL LET YOU DOWN!”

Illus: There is an advertisement on television some of you have probably seen. The advertisement is for a large chain motel. A dad is in a large swimming pool and his son walks out to the pool. It is evident the youngster can not swim. He has floaters on his arms. His dad, in the pool, encourages him to jump in, promising to catch him. The child takes the floaters off his arms as he contemplates jumping into his dad’s arms in the pool. As the dad continues to encourage him he goes to the edge of the pool and almost takes the plunge, but he has second thoughts. Finally he walks to the edge, takes a good look at his dad who has his arms outreached toward him, and he goes for it. His dad catches him in the air before he goes under.

The point the motel wants to convey is that you can trust in them.

I mention this television commercial because many of us are like that youngster. God, with outstretched arms, is telling us to trust Him, but there is a voice inside all of us that says, “DO NOT DO IT!”

WORRY IS A SIN. We may legalize it, but in plain English, it is REFUSING TO TRUST THE LORD!

The children of Israel REFUSED TO TRUST THE LORD when He told them to enter the promised land.

Illus: I am sure you remember the story of how Moses sent spies into the promised land. The majority of them came back saying, “No matter what God says we are to do, we can not go into the promised land. There are giants there and we would be like grasshoppers. they would step all over us!”

God was so displeased with their lack of faith and obedience that He punished them by leaving them to wander in the wilderness for forty years.

We live in a society that gives the impression that WORRYING is no more than a bad habit; but worrying is not a bad habit--worrying is a sin!

Illus: This reminds us of the story of the little boy who had the bad habit of rubbing his nose. One day his mother announced, “Son, the preacher is coming over for dinner. I do not want you to be rubbing your nose! Do you hear me?” He said, “Yes mamma, I promise I won’t.” The preacher came. They all sat down around the table. While they were eating the little boy had a strong compulsion to rub his nose. It was so bad he could hardly stand it. He tried to think of a way to be able to rub his nose without breaking his promise to his mother. Then he said, “Preacher, see that picture over there (and as he spoke he ran his hand under his nose as he pointed in one direction.), My Mama is going to move it over there (at that point he ran his other hand across his nose as he pointed in the other direction).”