I only worry when God worries.

Hey, I am apologizing for being so quiet since our little break down to the coast of Natal. It might have been a touch of Natal fever at first, you know the atmosphere down there gets into you real quick and it is slow to let go, you know, that really chilled out, laid back, don't worry tomorrow is another day kinda vibe. This brings me to the issue I want to "splab" about. Now that is "slang" only people from the 60's who hung out in the really cool "possies" will recognize. See, that is what the beach does to me!

What I want to talk about is worry! This is quite a common but serious issue with most people nowadays. The cost of living, the world wide economic slump and the widespread corruption and crime are all major contributors to people suffering from anxiety and worry. This is because our thoughts run around in our heads as if in a mental maze. Good English for the word worry is mulling. We think things over and over trying to figure it out and looking at all the different options trying to find answers for ourselves. When worry issues are avoided or not dealt on the other hand it leads to stress and depression disorders.

Medical research have confirmed that 87% of our physical disease are caused by psychosomatic conditions. This proves that our mental and emotional state has a direct negative impact on our health. This is the first of four reasons we should not worry.

Another reason is that worry accomplishes zilch, niks, nichts, lutu, nada in other words nothing. I ask you, how many of your worries have you sorted out by worrying? Furthermore I am sure almost 90% of what you worried about never happened. So then, what's the point? We all know we are going to die so why worry about it, make rather sure you are prepared to die and you have settled the matter about judgment, and facing God and heaven and hell and all that stuff, which quite frankly is more important than anything else.

Thirdly, talking about God, did you know that worry is the exact opposite to trusting Him? On top of that worry is a choice, because in any and every situation we have to choose between worry and faith. When we choose to trust God with our needs and crises and we roll our burdens unto Him to take care of them, we receive the peace that transcends all understanding. Jesus invites us to come to Him for rest in Matthew 11;28&29. After all He never worried about anything, not even having to face the cross and all its shame. He knew from reading and believing the Scriptures that He would be raised from the grave in complete victory. Our worries where placed on Jesus as part of our sin so we should not worry about things He has already taken care of. We should allow Him to hold us safely in His arms.

Jesus loves the "black sheep" as well

Finally, worrying robs our focus because it turns our thoughts to ourselves, making us self-centered. We should be focused on our destiny in Christ, in other words, we should place God and His kingdom uppermost in our minds. This will change our motives and desires towards His will for us, which is much better than we can imagine. To serve Him and others around us should be our focus and that means that we will not have the time to waste on worrying about trivial matters, that mostly take care of themselves anyway.

Most people do not realize that worry is a spiritual activity the same as thinking positively. We either entertain fear or faith thoughts. Thoughts that are destructive and unproductive or thoughts that are inspirational and productive. We are often attacked by the evil spirits around us through our thoughts. The Bible calls it the fiery darts of Satan. However God has supplied us with spiritual armour to defend ourselves and even counter attack. A well-trained soldier is a fearless man. He knows how to counter attack the enemy. What is true in the physical is more so true in the spiritual. To counter attack effectively one must know the enemies moves and then practice the counter moves over and over until it comes instinctively without hesitation. God has given us very powerful weapons that we must be trained in. They are accurately describes in Ephesians 6. They are all equally important but I want to focus on three only;

The helmet of salvation, the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit.

The helmet covers the main control center of your entire being, namely your head and brain. You must know that you are saved and you must protect your mind against injury.
You must stay behind your shield because your faith in God will protect you against the doubts and fears Satan shoots at you.
You can and must counter attack with the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Word must be spoken because then it becomes active in the physical world. So when doubts and worry attack you, lift your shield and speak the Word of God over your situation.

You may have fallen into the habit or even addiction of worry. Well there is a way to break it. You have to re-program your thinking through repetition. But first of all you have to realize that you have a choice in the matter. the same as getting angry, you can decide whether or not you are going to give in to it. So, make up your mind not to worry and then say something like; " According to Ephesians 6 I am a warrior, not a worrier" Walk in the Spirit and speak the power of God into your mind! Remember faith comes by hearing so say something like "Greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world" Repeat it over and over until you really believe it.

Here are 4 keys that can unlock a worry free mind;