Every day there’s an opportunity to worry. Currently, it’s the Coronavirus. The world is full of trouble, but worrying about it won’t stop it.
Being a champion worrier won’t get you a trophy. It’s not an Olympic sport. Not only is worry bad, it’s bad for you.
Worry robs your time, your peace and also causes a host of health problems.
Worry silently hurts you and I’ll show you how to stop it.
“There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem.”—Harold Stephen
WHY PEOPLE WORRY
For some people, worry is a habit and they feel they can’t stop. Others don’t realize they’re doing it.
Then there are those who believe worrying is a responsibility. They defend worry in the name of love saying it’s because they care. This, my friend, is a ruse.
Worry is not love. Worry is bad.
“Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose”―Eckhart Tolle Click To Tweet
HOW WORRY IS BAD
Worry is ruminating over something that hasn’t happened. The dictionary defines worry as:
- to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts;
- to torment with cares, anxieties; trouble; plague.
- to seize, especially by the throat, with the teeth and shake or mangle, as one animal does
That last one is a graphic picture of what we’re doing to ourselves when we worry.
Worry is destructive.
“Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.”—Swedish Proverb
HOW WORRY DESTROYS
Worry activates the fight or flight system inside us that releases the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline. In emergency situations, these are helpful but not with worry.
Some of the things worry will cause:
- High blood pressure
- Headaches
- Muscle aches and pains
- Nausea and digestive problems
- Fatigue
- Irritability
- Inability to concentrate
- Breathing issues
- Racing heartbeat
- Sweating
- Trembling and twitching
- Suppression of the immune system
- Dizziness
- Problems swallowing
- Dry mouth
- Short-term memory loss
- Premature coronary artery disease
- Heart attack
Worry is a chronic undertow that’ll steal your health unless you stop it.
WORRY CAN BE STOPPED
I have known worry and felt powerless to stop—until a certain day.
Here’s my story.
It happened when we lived in Arizona for a few years, far away from family. That alone was a big stressor for me and I didn’t deal with it well. I was suffering panic attacks and taking Xanax before we even moved. Add to that two deaths in the family, the housing crash of 2008, and unemployment to name a few, and I was a bit of a mess. What about this and what about that ruminated inside me.
One day while moaning to the pastor’s wife she told me to cast my care. The words were familiar but instead of helping me, I felt attacked. Self-condemnation said I should know better.
But Grace!
The Spirit of Grace opened my eyes through words that escaped my own lips.
I snapped—I don’t know how!
Those 4 words were the pivot point in my life—I don’t know how. They implied there was a way—and if there was a way—then I could find it.
We can find the way to stop worrying.
“Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, Faith looks up”―Ralph Waldo Emerson
FINDING THE WAY
On that pivotal day when I got the epiphany, there was a way to do this cast your care thing I prayed and asked God to teach me. He did. Grace teaches.
It wasn’t instant. It was a process. That’s how grace works.
I learned worry pushes and demands action.
The action that worry demands isn’t possible. This leads to the pseudo-action of rumination of the worst-case scenarios in the mind and emotions.
To stop worrying, all that pseudo-action must have a place to go.
Concerns, stresses, and cares (whatever you want to call them) start little like tiny weeds in a garden. Like those weeds, they’ll choke out life if not removed. Cares need to be put somewhere just like weeds need to be put in the compost or garbage.
I learned it’s all about trust.
To stop worrying was to take the care, the concern, the worry, the worst-case scenario and give it to someone trusted. The key is in the place you trust.
To be able to cast my cares on God required my soul to trust Him.
Trust is not something we can demand of ourselves. Trust is something that grows.
I learned trust is based on love.
Fear blocks trust. Worry is a form of fear.
Love, real love is more powerful than fear and when given the opportunity it purges fear out of our hearts and builds trust.
Love doesn’t worry. Love believes. Love removes the root of worry when trust is strong.
I learned it’s about His love, not me following orders.
What a relief. When the Bible tells us to cast all our cares on God, it’s because of His love for us, not a demand for compliance. He cares about us. Our cares matter to Him. He invites us to give them to Him because He can handle them and we can’t.
Learning to trust Love is how we put a stop to worry.
“Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.”—Henry Ward Beecher Click To Tweet
TRUSTING LOVE
How much you worry is evidence of how much you trust Love, or don’t. No judgment where you find yourself—it’s just where you start. Love is patient, kind and full of grace. My story is evidence.
My trust in Love was small but God took what I had and made it bigger. Now morning I remind myself of what Love says.
Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. —1 Peter 5:7 AMPC
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 4:6-7 (TLB)
These words help me stop the worry and trust instead.
Peace is the evidence we have stopped worrying.
WHAT NEXT
- Which of the quotes do you like the best?
- How much do you struggle with worry? Share a story in the comments.
- Here’s some help to trust love. Audio or ebook
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This is a beautiful read Thank you.
Thank you, Hanna. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
“Being a champion worrier won’t get you a trophy. It’s not an Olympic sport.” Very true!
Thanks, Kate!