Warrior or Worrier?

“Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but gets you nowhere.” says, Glenn Turner. This quote remains one of my favorite reminders about the futility of worry. A more traditional term for worry is to fret. I remember my grandmother telling me when I was a child, “now stop fretting!”

It seems for most of us, worrying is a practiced thought process that like other repeated activities, becomes a habit. We worry about things over which we have no control: I hope it doesn’t rain today. And, we worry about things where the probability of them happening is minuscule: I’m afraid of flying. These are just a couple of examples that cause anxiety.

As Joshua led the Israelites into the land God promised His people, God told him to “be strong and courageous.” These words were a powerful reminder to the people of God’s unwillingness to accept less than total obedience and trust. Forty years prior, their ancestors did not trust God in leading them into the promised land, for which negated a single one of them from entering God’s promise; instead, they all died in the desert.

If I’m honest, I must tell you that sometimes I find myself in a state of worry. When my mind and emotions shift from confidence to concern, I question if I am including God or just maybe my plans are reckless in nature. Trusting is not the absence of action on our part; it is moving ahead with prayer and obedience, trusting God with the outcome. Let’s decide that the next time anxiety creeps into our thinking; we will consult The LORD for His wisdom, and exercise trust instead of worry.