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Worry is a biggie!  It is an insidious part of our consciousness, so intertwined with daily thought that we find ourselves worrying without even recognizing it.   

Take, for example, my relationship with my mom.  We are tremendously close.  I look forward to talking with her nearly every day.  I deeply value her counsel and guidance and she can tell by the timbre of my voice if something is wrong. 

Momma is 83.  She is blessed with tremendously good health (nearly fully recovered from her recent knee replacement.)  But even though I know that many people live well beyond her age, I carry a persistent fear of losing her.  And I will lose her, and I will be a complete and total mess.  Death is the reality no one can avoid. 

But worry takes that fear and invades our relationship, threatening to spoil the precious time we have together.  Over the Christmas holidays, I found myself thinking “What if this is the last Christmas we have together?”  With her recent surgery, “What if she doesn’t make it through surgery?  What if she’s unable to walk?  What if something goes wrong?”  When making plans for Nellie’s graduation, “What if something happens to Momma before then?  How can we even think of gathering without her?”  (Did I mention that we are very close?!) 

Instead of soaking in every moment I have with her, worry is robbing me of the joy and contentment of being together.  Worry adds nothing to our relationship and it most certainly detracts from our time together.  It reminds me of Mary Magdalene grasping at the resurrected Jesus outside the empty tomb.  She so wanted to hold on to him, to keep him with her – that she almost missed out on the glory of the event. 

When worry, realistic or unrealistic, invades our daily life, spinning again and again and keeping you from living fully and contentedly, it is sinful.  It pulls us away from our relationship with God.  The Hebrew word for faith is EMETH (vowels added), which literally means “to carry a nursing child.”  Faith is all about trust, confident dependence upon God, just as an infant is joyously dependent upon its mother.  I need more EMETH when I start to worry about my mom.  Not that she will live forever, not that I won’t be deeply grieved when I do lose her, but that God will carry me through such grief and that I will be reunited with Momma in the heavenly banquet that has no end. 

Study

Luke 9:24 

I believe; help my unbelief!

Pray

Let us pray, 

Lord God, we fear the grief that comes with love.  Work within my heart and mind.  Replace worry with trust, fear with peace, and anxiety with the contentment found only in you.  I pray in the name of the one who loved his mother, Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Amen.

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Read

Fear, anxiety, and worry are deeply intertwined.  While many use the terms interchangeably, they are actually quite different.   

Fear

Fear is often more immediate – fear of a particular situation, fear of failure, fear of losing someone or something important to you.  Often, such fear is appropriate.  Having lived through three tornados and losing my best friend in a tornado, I have a good reason to feel fear when there is stormy weather.  It causes me to pay attention to the forecast, to take cover when needed. 

But when I can’t sleep on a stormy night because I’m afraid I won’t wake up if a tornado is coming – then my fear is interfering with my quality of life.  My fear is racing ahead of my logic.  I know how loud a tornado is (it really does sound like a freight train) and I know that I will wake up.  It is in such a time of irrational fear or phobia that we need to pray, to invest in letting go of such fear, or if it is really impairing your life, to seek professional support. 

Anxiety

Anxiety is a bit more persistent than fear and is, therefore, a more common occurrence.  While there certainly is a clinical level of anxiety, many people face a more generalized anxiety.  As with shame, we are also adept at avoiding anxiety through numbing our difficult emotions.  God created all emotion, each with a helpful purpose even if they don’t feel “good.” 

We can trust God to see us through discomfort.  We can be confident that we will survive grief.  We can be so grounded in who and whose we are that we can live with someone disagreeing with or disapproving of us.  Anxiety is a normal part of life, not to be feared or avoided but to be dealt with.  (When anxiety significantly impairs your life, it is time to seek professional help.) 

Worry

Worry, in some ways, is the baby brother of this group, but it is incredibly powerful.  (More on worry tomorrow.)

Reflect

• Over what in your life do you feel anxious?  What impact does your anxiety have on your life and ministry?  What steps have you taken to deal with it?  What does your faith have to say to you about your anxiety? 
• What affirmations can you give yourself when you are afraid, such as “I can do this,” or “God has seen me through this before,” or “I need to phone a friend (or a pastor)?” 

Study

II Timothy 1:7 

God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. 

Pray

Let us pray, 

Lord God, you told your disciples “be not afraid” and their trust, though imperfect empowered them to do great things in your name.  Soothe our anxieties, give us the power to step out of the boat into the unknown.  We pray in the name of the one who rescued Peter when his fear got the better of him, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

Footnote 

Among teens and young adults, anxiety is called “the mental health tsunami of their generation.”*  While there are many theories about why, and what to do about it, one interesting perspective can be found here in a Ted Talk about grit.   

*National Education Association 

Please contact the church office if you’d like to receive the daily devotions through email. 

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When fear is not required for our immediate protection, it is often a destructive force in life.  In his book Slaying the Giants in Your Life, Pastor David Jeremiah points out a number of negative impacts fear has on one’s faith relationship with God.   

• • Fear robs us of perspective.  While we may be able to see things clearly and keep things in perspective under normal circumstances, when we are afraid, everything gets exaggerated – except for God’s promises. 
  • Fear brings out the worst – ushering in complaining, distrust, finger-pointing and despair.  We certainly see that on social and political levels where fear is exploited for someone’s gain. 
  • Fear weakens our reasoning.  We hear talk of irrational fears – and the longer one holds irrational fears, the stronger they become. 
  • Fear discourages rather than encourages.  Fear is contagious, spreading from one person to another, from one situation to another.  It removes courage from people, rather than building up courage in people. 

Pr. Jeremiah also offers a number of spiritual steps to fast from or overcome one’s fears. 

• • Confront your fear honestly.  Understanding what is at the root of your fear and asking God for clarity on your fears will help you put them into perspective. 
  • Confess your fear as a sin.  While this may sound harsh, fear is, in essence, a lack of trust in God and God’s loving presence in your life.  Repentance means a change of mind, a shift of perspective, and nowhere is that more needed than in facing our fears. 
  • Claim God’s promises of support and care.  Intentionally read God’s written Word to receive God’s courage and strength.  Suggestions include: 

Deuteronomy 31:6          Psalm 27:1          Psalm 118:6          Proverbs 3:25-26          Proverbs 29:25          Isaiah 41:10   

• • Cultivate a closer relationship with God.  As in any relationship, trust increases with ongoing conversation between you and God, with remembering all the ways God has carried you through difficulty in the past. 

Reflect

• How have you used some of these tools to set your fear aside?   
• Which of these represent an area of growth for you?

Study

I John 4:18 

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.” 

Pray

Let us pray, 

Lord God, you love us so completely and desire only the best for our lives.  In times of trouble, when fear gets the better of us, we pray that your Holy Spirit would enter in, soothe our anxieties and fill us with the hope we have in you.  We pray in the name of the one who calmed the storm, Jesus Christ our Lord, 

Amen. 

Please contact the church office if you’d like to receive the daily devotions through email.