Go ahead-worry! But do it constructively–10th February 2022

Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.  Philippians 4:6

            Most Christians are taught early in their relationship with God about having a quiet time.  Reading the Bible, praying, listening for the Holy Spirit to speak. 

I grew up hearing Philippians 4:6 quoted in the context of and emphasis on prayer.  I heard it as “Don’t Worry!”; like it is a sin to worry. 

            Everyone worries!  We all get anxious about things.  We are human.  Lately I’ve been gong through an on-line course about dealing with general anxiety disorder.  The sessions teach skills to address moments of uncertainty, unease and apprehension. 

            Sometimes I need to hear things in a new context in order to translate it from an instruction on a page into a tool I use daily. 

             As I did the course, I found a new slant.  Go ahead and worry!  What!!??  I refer to it as “Constructive worry”.  It is not worrying for the sake of worrying. 

            The idea behind giving one’s self permission to worry is learning how to address negative thoughts.  First, there is no judgement about “worrying.”  The technique is to sit quietly once or twice a day, review what is bothering me and dissect it.  There are two kinds of worry:  practical and hypothetical.

            Practical:  Is my worry practical?  For example,

“What can I cook for dinner, if I didn’t take out anything from the freezer to defrost?”

 I’ve been known to walk around all day, feeling stressed because I didn’t get out any meat for the evening meal.  But it is a practical, concern, because I can do something about it.  Like, go investigate what I have in the cupboard, the refrigerator.  After I check, I might find lots of ingredients to create a meal.  And if I don’t, I can call my husband and ask him to bring home something from the shops. 

            Practical worries can be addressed.  We can think of actions to take. 

            Hypothetical:  Is my worry hypothetical?  In other words, it’s often a “What if” situation that I can do nothing about.

• Am I overthinking things?  (I wondering if he’s going to charge me more than expected?) 
• Is my imagination running riot? (My husband is late.  Did he get hit by a car and knocked off his bicycle?)
• Am I expecting the worst?  (The doctor wants to talk to me about my blood test!  I must be diabetic.”
• Am I jumping to wrong conclusions? (I haven’t heard from my friend in weeks.  I must have said something to offend him/her.)

In each of these situations, there is nothing I can do to change the situation.  These are circumstances that I need to let go.  Why dwell on things when there is nothing I can do to change or prevent them.  And more than likely, these random thoughts are most likely not going to happen. 

If “be anxious for nothing” becomes “try not to worry”, too late!  But if “be anxious for nothing” becomes a time when I sit down and talk to Jesus about the challenges I’m facing, I let myself off of the hook. 

            Matthew 6 records Jesus teaching His disciples to trust our Heavenly Father to take care of us.  God takes care of the meadow grasses, the birds of the air and dresses all nature in radiant beauty.  We are loved far more than the birds of the air. 

            Our Father earnestly remembers our fragileness of frame.  It’s important that we tell him our thoughts, our needs.  Great peace can come by just admitting where we really are, how we really feel.  Admitting our fears, our concerns, our frustrations become a starting point.  When we find a way of telling them to God, it clears our minds and allows us to listen to the direction, wisdom, instructions that the Holy Spirit speaks to us. 

            So, go ahead and worry!  But make it constructive worry. 

Serving Jesus, Author of our faith,

Dalletta