Worry

Life is filled with worry. From a young age we can be taught to worry. 

Grades.

The way I look.

Friends.

Dating.

Marriage.

Wedding.

Blending two as one.

Family - children.

Bills.

Jobs.

And this isn't taking into account the big worries - a death, a job loss, many other catastrophe's that can come up.

The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale helps us determine how stress and worry can have long term impact. You can learn more about this Stress Scale and grade yourself H.E.R.E.

I realize that "stress" and "worry" are two separate events but yet they go hand in hand. They both cause physical damage.

In Matthew 6:25, Jesus says to us,"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?"

That is so easy to read - often much harder to apply to my life.

Then in verse 27, Jesus goes on to say,"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

Which is exactly what the The Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale tells us, too. Worry, stress causes damage to our physical bodies. 

The answer? Only trusting God. Reading His Word and Praying.  Sometimes this answer seems so trite. So simplistic. So non-effective.

But trust me. It is the only answer that works. Sometimes I feel like it's one step forward, two steps back. But God helps us become over-comers and with a relationship with Him, I can overcome. - Even worry.

Anxiety

Anxiety is more than a fear of something tangible happening. It goes a step beyond that. It is a dread over something that is unlikely to happen.

God addresses our anxieties.

In Luke, Jesus says, “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.” Luke 21:34

This is talking about the day of Christ’s return and Jesus is telling us to get our lives in order. Do away with the dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life so we will be ready for His soon return.

Aargh… I looked up dissipation* in the dictionary. In these days of certain sins being bandied about as worse than others… Well, this verse shows us that sin is sin. All sin is sin. Not just the ones we choose.

And Jesus wants us to get our anxiety under control to be ready for His return. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us to “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

And if the anxiety creeps back in? Cast it again. And again. And again. – just as if you were casting for a large fish. You do it over and over and over – until the fish is caught. Until your anxiety never returns. Sometimes I think because I’m a Christian, life should be easy. It’s not. And I turn to him daily. Hourly. Every minute I look to Him for the answers to my life.

Being anxious weighs a man down – we know that – Proverbs states this very fact. The Proverb also adds – a kind word cheers a person with anxiety up. (Proverbs 12:25) So, be kind to everyone around you. You have no idea what their lives are.

For those with anxious hearts there is only one answer. Only one.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

*“Dissipation: decadence (a decline in morals), excess, overconsumption, self indulgence, wildness, drunkenness, depravity (moral corruption, wickedness), promiscuity, degeneracy (corrupt, vulgar, vicious, sexual perversion), licentiousness (lacking legal or moral restraints, especially sexual restraints), debauchery (excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures). Squandering of money, energy, or resources, expenditure, waste.”