"The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith. The beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety." ~ George Muller
{"Concern" means to "have an interest in, give attention to, be engaged by a situation, as a matter of consideration or responsibility"
"Worry" is a disquieted uneasiness of mind, an anxious apprehension concerning an impending or anticipated situation; fretting about a foreboding misfortune or failure. ("Worried" and "anxious" are used as synonyms.)
"Anxiety" has become a psychological designation of abnormal, overwhelming apprehension; anguished uncertainty and self-doubt about one's ability to cope with the situation, to the point of becoming distressed, distraught, panicky or tormented.
"Concern" becomes "worry" when we fail to relate the situation that confronts us to the source of sufficiency in God.
To worry is to assume a responsibility that is not necessarily ours to assume; failing to recognize that God is bigger than any problem we might have, and loves us enough to seek our highest good in the midst of every situation. (Romans 8:28)
Worry is a form of humanistic self-orientation that thinks, "It's up to me to take care of this situation," and is thus a form of practical atheism, acting as if there is no God to deal with the situation, or that God doesn't know or care about the situation.}
(All of the information in the ellipsis' are from this link.)
If the last definition of worry is not enough to convict me for the rest of the year!! Here are some other things I have learned from my bible study "Calm My anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow
First of all, let me say, as Linda does that this type of "anxiety" that will be talked about in this post is not a chemical imbalance of anxiety but the kind that we choose to have in our life.
Let's look to the only completely true and trustworthy source out there, the Bible, and see what it has to say.
Matthew 6:25-34 says
"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."
Jesus says in this passage 5 times to stop worrying! 5 times. Something's telling it it must have been an important message to get across.
Linda says, "The Living Bible makes verse 34 crystal clear, 'So don't be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.' Certainly we are to pray, plan, and prepare for tomorrow but we are not to worry about what might happen. The load of tomorrow added to that of yesterday, and carrying today, makes even the strongest woman stumble. We are to entrust all our tomorrows to Him and live just today. Walking with God through today's twenty-four hours is difficult enough."
The memory verse for this week is 1 Peter 5:6-7, "Humble yourselves, (demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation) therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety (discouragement,despair, questioning, wondering, pain,and suffering) on Him (trust Him) because he cares for you!"
The original language of the word cast means to unload on Him, to or hurl.
It reminds me of a story, my friend from college and I whenever we got mad at a guy and didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore we would write his name on a piece of paper and flush it down the toilet! In order to be completely rid of him in our lives.
In a different way but with the same concept God wants us to give our worries, anxieties, and cares to Him. In a way in which we can never take them back and yet if we do, He will take them again for us because He is that merciful. PTL!!!
I feel like I am convicted beyond measure about this topic. I worry when I know Adam won't be home for the night or that next day very much and I won't have any help. I worry because we just get stir crazy in the house and it is VERY hard to get both the girls out and about by myself. I worry myself to death over a time period that hasn't even happened yet. God has been working steadily and patiently on my heart about this topic. He has been telling me, "Take it day by day, one day at a time, hour by hour or minute by minute if you need to. If you trust me, I can give you all the patience and energy to deal with the girl by yourself." I am definitely not finished with this lesson but even writing out God's words to me and knowing I can depend on Him brings such peace to my heart and life.
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1 comment:
Such an interesting post!
Cxx
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