What if my marriage fails? What if I get a job and am fired? What if I start a business and no one buys my products? What if I die tomorrow? What if Jesus returns and I am still not married?
What if…..
Those two words carry a lot of weight in amplifying the weight of our worries. Ruminating on those two words can paralyze your life to stillness. You may find your mind foggy with imaginable scenarios to the point you are depressed with fear. In his book Julius Ceasar, William Shakespeare says, “A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.”
But what if you could stop worrying and start living?
Worry is deceitful. According to research over 90% of the things we worry about do not come to pass. They largely consist of unimaginable things. This does not mean we should not have a general concern over our well-being, the problem is consistent worry to the point you stop living. For instance, you can be so worried about getting an infectious disease that you fail to leave your house. Or you may subject yourself to what-if scenarios that you do nothing about your situation.
Worry is like a rocking chair; you are moving but going nowhere. I heard somewhere that the bible has the words ‘Fear not’ 365 times to take care of our worries each day. The problem is not just about not going anywhere with worry but it also affects your health. Stress hormones released during periods of worry are a major cause of life-threatening diseases like high blood pressure, heart diseases, shrinking memory mass, premature ageing and lowering IQ. So, while you worry unnecessarily know you are also increasing the likelihood of premature death.
Imagine that for a moment. You are so fearful of dying that you die early. Job says in 3:25, “The thing that I feared has come upon me”.
So how do you deal with worry?
1) Put your faith in God
The best thing about having a relationship with God is the one who holds the universe and your future also holds you in his hands. God is outside time meaning He knows what your future holds and is already in that future. God knows the day you were born and the day you die. When you put your faith and life in his hands you can rest assured, He will take care of it. Isaiah 40:11 says, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand”.
God also declares in Isaiah 46:4 that even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. This is a comforting scripture for those who fear death for God is saying even in your old age he will sustain you.
2) Question your fears
Most of our fears remain as strongholds in our minds because we do not question the origin of that fear. For instance, if it’s rejection you may want to ask yourself why you fear rejection so much. Introspection into your past may reveal that someone you trusted left you and from that time the fear of rejection becomes rooted in your mind or if it’s swimming it could be you almost drowned as a child. Invite the Holy Spirit into your healing process by taking these journeys into your past. It can be painful going back to traumatic experiences in the past but this is the only way to overcome the fear and move forward.
3) Do it Afraid
Sometimes no matter how much you wait or encourage yourself fear will still rear its head to stop you. Your only option is to do what is required afraid. Nelson Mandela remarked, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear”.
I am not saying that you should get to a point where you do not feel fear; no there is a natural fear ingrained in us that protects us from danger. For instance, when you see a snake or a dog growl at you. The fear that we should overcome is the irrational fear rooted in ‘what ifs’. If you are planning on starting a business there is something called failing forward. It is where you start something fall, pick up yourself, dust off the dust and do it again. There are lessons to be learned in failing forward.
4) Meditate on the Word of God
If you struggle with anxiety and depression you may want to replace your anxious thoughts with the word of God. One thing I like about the word of God is it has a lot of positive words. If you meditate on this regularly you will change your thinking patterns. Romans 12:2 tells us to be transformed by the renewal of our minds we do this through reading the word of God. Today, we have lost the art of meditating on the word of God because our lives are consumed with social media. We are too distracted by entertainment to allow the Holy Spirit to breathe over the word we are ruminating in our minds.
While meditating on the word cast your care to God, he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). This earth is for the living so stop living like the dead.
So stop worrying and start living
God does not want your life consumed with worry that is why he says in Philippians 4:5-6,” Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
God wants you to trade your worries for his peace; will you let Him?