Worry Empties Your Today

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.

~ Corrie ten Boom ~

As far back as I can remember, I have had a tendency to worry. It used to be to the point of creating excessive anxiety. Although I didn’t show it on the outside, inwardly I was a wreck.

Today, I am not driven to excessive worry. However, I can still get caught up in worrying about things that are presumably out of my control. If my worry only affected me, it would not be as big of an issue. Unfortunately worry, stress, and anxiety rarely only affect the person experiencing it.

Worry Seeps Out

Over the last few months I have been worrying about some real-life, adult stuff. I had mostly kept it at bay, but recently I started thinking on it to the point that it became overly stressful and started seeping into my outward behavior. I did not recognize this, but my wife did. That worry manifested itself in the form of being short with her. My wife began to worry I was possibly angry at or frustrated with her. I was not. My worries have nothing to do with her. Because we work hard at keeping our lines of communication open, she was able to bring it to my attention.

Any Excellence

The main thing my wife helped me realize during our conversation is how easily we are affected by what we choose to think about. I’m reminded of Paul’s exhortation of what we ought to think on. In Philippians 4:8 he urges, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” It is when we think on these things that God works the renewing of our mind. When we think on these things we are made more and more into the image of Christ. We become more able to deal with our concerns in healthier ways. As we think on these things, worry loses its power over us and we are able to depend more fully on God. Our focus becomes peace rather than worry. Paul concludes this thought by telling us that if we think on those things and “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

He Is Our Peace.

Isn’t that what we all want? Peace? When we worry, our attention is pulled away from God, our heart is dulled, and our peace is stolen from us. But, when we think on the good things of God, we will see clearly that He is with us. He is our peace.