Worry is something we all face at one time or another in life. When I was a child, people were troubled about nuclear war and about the worldwide spread of communism. In late 2001, and since, many worried about terrorists and the possibility of death at their hands. A few years ago, the world feared a pandemic of deadly influenza. Now, people are worrying about a worldwide recession or depression. One is even tempted to worry about what will be the next traumatic event that we will have to worry about.
The word worry comes from an old English word meaning “to strangle.” The Latin word for worry meant “to torment or strangle” and gives us the English word anxiety. That is exactly what worry does to us. It is crippling in an individual’s life and in society. As someone said, “Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.”
Worry is evidence of a wrong focus. It shows where our real affections and treasures lie. Most worry focuses on material or physical possessions or problems. It shows that our focus is on things instead of on God who provides for our needs physically and spiritually.
The Bible pictures worry as sin, in part, because it is failure to trust the God who created us and the material universe. It is also sin because of the things it can lead to. It has been said that worry has too many friends. Some of its friends include anger, self-pity, envy, bitterness, depression, and even suicide.
Worry tends to compound problems and worsens our situation. It takes precious time and attention away from priorities and increases our feelings of dissatisfaction about life.
Anxiety and fear tend to rise from a lifestyle that has forgotten God, the God who controls the universe, the God who cares for us and for the things that affect our lives. The Bible says, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . . Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things [food, clothing, shelter] shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought [do not worry about] for the morrow.”
Taking God’s way and not worrying about the future may not eliminate all dangers or problems we face; however, it will change the way we look at them and the way we face them. It will give us something and Someone lasting to trust. Surrendering to God and His Son, Jesus Christ, will bring peace in this life and a certain future in the life to come.
As God spoke through the ancient Prophet Jeremiah, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end [a future and a hope].”
—RLB