pray continually; 18 give
thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you
in Christ Jesus.
Topics:
[Do Not Worry] [6:25-33pp -- Lk 12:22-31]
"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?"
"And why do you worry about
clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin."
"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or
'What shall we wear?'"
·
"Therefore do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Prologue
Jesus makes it pretty clear, living as God's children, we are not to worry. Three times in 10 verses Jesus tells us not to worry, therefore, it is sinful to worry. We can be concerned but burdensome worry, it truly becomes a killer. Jesus knew what he was Preaching on the Mount.
Some people like their worries. They are so wrapped up in their worries that if they did not have their worries, they would not have anything to talk about. If they had nothing to talk about, they would worry about it. They might have to look for something to worry about, they might worry about not being worried, thinking, "What's wrong with me, I'm not worried!" Well, I certainly do not worry about those people.
In fact, I try very hard not to worry. Oh, like most people, I do slip into worry from time to time in the form of "over concern" about problems, issues, and troubles (PITs). But, for the most part my focus in life is on not worrying but controlling the management of my concerns before they become a worry. Am I concerned and focused on some of those PITs, yes, but worry, no. Worry could kill me because I could easily find so much to worry about.
In the past, I have been a chronic worrier and quite literally, I came to understand worry can lead to death. A friend of mine became worried about his job, to the extreme; he and a 410 shotgun killed himself in their bedroom, with his wife, mother, father, and four children at the dinner table. That is extreme worry, but worry can lead to extreme worry and extreme worry (depression) can lead to clinical depression and to death. I can be concerned and certainly work on my concerns, but I learned to greatly reduce and for the most part eliminate worry from my life. The process described here is just a beginning. I have used mental health professionals and some of what they did is similar to what I describe herein. But, do what you have to do to reduce and eliminate worry, if you cannot on your own, then use mental health professionals. The greater sin is to do nothing.
Eliminating Worry in Your Life
For some of you, I wish I could make this process more complicated as I know you would take it more seriously, but, I like simple; get over it. The process is simple, but the work to complete the process, that is the hard part. Some of your solutions you will not like, get over it.
One activity before starting the "Worry Eliminating" process is this. Paul tells us to "give thanks in all circumstances...". This is good advice but notice, it does not say 'give thanks for the circumstances'. We always have things to which we can give thanks and count our blessings, regardless of our circumstances. When you are emotionally down for whatever reason, first, take note of the blessings in your life. Even in your worst of times there are blessings. In the heat of dangerous times in Vietnam, I found things to be thankful. In the end, I am most thankful for the experiences, and most thankful for surviving the worst of times. Remembering your blessings, takes some of the heat off your trials. And, there is no testimony without your testing and temptations. Then, pray in thankfulness for your blessings.
The difference between concern and worry is this:
Concern is spending constructive time thinking about PITs that you have some control to change or affect their outcome.
Worry is wasted time thinking excessively about PITs in which you have absolutely no control to influence their outcome. Excessive worry leads to chemical changes in the brain leading to clinical depression.
Eliminating Worry in your life can be done with the following attitude and process:
1. Examine, define, and list in writing what the PITs (problems, issues, and troubles) are that causes stress in your life.
2. The first and maybe the hardest part is to eliminate the wants from your list, and do not worry about your wants! Likewise, don't be too concerned about your wants. If something on your list is causing concern but your life or the life of your family is not dependent on this concern, eliminate it, and forget it. You may want something, but if it is not a true need to sustain your life, you cannot let it put stress in your life, and you have to forget it. You may want a bigger house, a better car, or the best boat, but if you cannot afford it, you must set it aside and then forget it.
3. Looking at your list, determine which of the PITS you can influence and/or control and are able to do something to resolve and satisfy the PITS.
4. Of the items you can do something about,
this becomes your "work" list:
A- For each item, create a plan in writing to solve each PIT including the resources needed. Make sure with absolute certainty that you have the control to resolve the PIT and move any uncontrollable parts to the "prayer" list, and remove unnecessary parts.
B- Pray for the courage and Guidance of the Holy Spirit to do what you can do to handle the stress and satisfy the issue.
C- Rank the PITs in order of time related needs and develop a plan for your time and the resources to eliminate the PITs.
D- Go to work on the details of your work list and set reasonable completion dates. It may require huge changes in your life, but pray for the courage to change and the Holy Spirit to guide you in your change. Your life my depend on it.
5. Of the needs you cannot control and do something about
this becomes your "prayer list" :
A- Pray and submit these PITs to God, and let go of the PITs. Often, in submissive prayer, you may see elements on the pray list that you can resolve. If so, move those to the "work list".
B- One can still be concerned about these PITs but let go of the worry. If you find yourself in worry, immediately start praying.
C- IF you cannot handle it, if you cannot do anything about something, worry does you absolutely no good. But, God can do anything, and will handle it and take care of the the consequences of those PITs. Worry truly damages your ability to think, trust God, and see solutions.
The Sinfulness of Worry
Remember that Jesus told us not to worry!
Jesus did not make it optional, he did not suggest this, it was not a casual remark. He simply said, "... do not worry..." Worry is a creation of mankind. God created us with the ability to choose, with the intention that we choose with His guidance through the Holy Spirit. But, in our selfishness to control our lives, we have our concerns but skip the Holy Spirit guidance. We then over concern ourselves in life's details on things we have no control, letting concerns pile up and then these concerns becomes burdensome worry. In this desire to control our lives and in cutting God out of the process of living our lives, we sin. Worry is sinfulness when it puts barriers between us and our Personal Relationship with God.
It is sinful to worry, we can be concerned, but worry, no.
Worry is a killer.
Jesus always knew that what he was teaching was/is good for us.
Thanks be to God.
Using Mental Health
Professionals,
Psychologists, and Psychiatrists
There is absolutely no
doubt in the medical community that worry can lead to death, especially worry
that goes into clinical depression. Once you are clinically depressed you
can be and usually are in serious trouble. At some point in the worry
process if you do not find the above process helpful, then possibly you need
medical help.
The above process is very likely the beginning stages of doctor related psychological help. Doing the above, in writing, will speed up the initial interviews with doctors. They will want to know what it is that worries you and what concerns you. Your notes and efforts suggested herein will save yourself time and money with the doctor. Determining your concerns and worries early will help the doctors, but could possibly just help avoid the doctors.
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ldcoggins@gmail.com
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Intro ==================
FB, Linkined post
As we journey this Advent Season, we are in a time of anticipation and preparation. Unfortunately, for many people, this becomes a time of worry. Medical doctors have come to understand the week after Christmas is the most worrisome time of year leading to depression. It has to do with the let down after Christmas, the bills, and even the lack of sunlight.
But, we have The Sonlight in our lives gives us hope and helps sustain us when problems abound. In just a few words Jesus had volumes to say about "worry". Click and read on about conquering a most damaging behavior in our lives. Sometimes in our perseverance to do it all, there is salvation and victory in giving up some of our concerns and learning to Live without all the worry.
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