Tag Archives: worry

Are you letting worry kill you?

A STORY IS told about a man who came face to face with the dangers of worry…

Death was walking toward a city one morning and a man asked, “What are you going to do?” “I’m going to take 100 people,” Death replied. “That’s horrible!” the man said. “That’s the way it is,” Death said. “That’s what I do.” The man hurried to warn everyone he could about Death’s plan. As evening fell, he met Death again. “You told me you were going to take 100 people,” the man said. “Why did 1,000 die?!” “I kept my word,” Death responded. “I only took 100 people. Worry took the others.”

“An anxious heart weighs a man down.” Proverbs 12:25

–Mike Benson

Are you worried about something?

WHEN GOD TELLS us in the Bible not to worry, it isn’t a suggestion…

It’s a command. Worry and/or anxiety is specifically mentioned twenty-five times in the New Testament alone as something we should avoid.

The words used most often for worry and anxiety in the New Testament come from the same Greek word, meridzoe, which means “to be divided, to be pulled in opposite directions, to choke.” (Perhaps we wear anxiety around our necks after all.)

In the parable of the sower, Jesus tells us: “The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures.” These people have accepted the Word of God, Jesus says, but “they do not mature.” Grasping for spiritual breath, worry-bound, thorny-ground Christians may survive, but they never truly thrive.

The Old English word for worry meant “to gnaw.” Like a dog with a bone, a worrier chews on his problem all day long.

Why is the Bible so adamant about our avoiding fear and worry? Because God knows worry short-circuits our relationship with him. It fixes our eyes on our situation rather than on our Savior. It works a little like thick London fog–the kind of fog that is legendary. Why, it wouldn’t be a Sherlock Holmes without fog to obscure the villain and allow him to get away. “Thick as pea soup,” Londoners describe it. “Can’t see your hand in front of your face,” they say.

–Joanna Weaver

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” Matthew 6:25

–Mike Benson

Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid

NEHEMIAH RETURNED TO the ruins of Jerusalem to restore the city…

He rallied the remnant people of Israel, and they immediately began rebuilding the wall. Several naysayers and antagonistic groups attempted to intimidate the workers and stall the work. Then word came to Nehemiah and his workers that the enemies were about to attack. Listen to the anxious voices around Nehemiah:

We are exhausted: “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot build the wall.”

We are doomed: “Our enemies said, ‘Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.'”

We are outnumbered: “Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over ‘Wherever you turn, they will attack us.'”

The situation became highly charged with anxiety: Nehemiah’s workers were anxious. The antagonists also became anxious, fearing the Jews might actually succeed in rebuilding the wall and take power.

However, rather than joining in the anxious fray of his people and of their enemies, Nehemiah remained calm, creative, and focus on the goal. He calmed his people’s fears and then galvanized them to action. In fifty-two days the wall stood at its full height. Rather than freeze, flee, or even fight, Nehemiah led his people through the emotional pain to which they subjected themselves and accomplished the task. (Jon Mullican)

“But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid'” (Matthew 14:27).

–Mike Benson