Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Worry (1)

'Don't worry about anything...' Philippians 4:6 NLT

Identify the source of your worries.
  • Did you grow up in a fear-filled family, always feeling insecure, never measuring up, and never hearing words of affirmation and approval? 
  • Are you listening to the prophets of doom, hearing only about what's wrong, and how much worse it's going to get? 
  • What's the source of your anxiety? 
  • What feeds your worries? 
Until you can express your fears you can't expel them. Putting your worries into words disrobes them. They look weak and silly standing there naked.

In his novel Life of Pi, Yann Martel's main character, Pi, finds himself adrift at sea on a lifeboat with a 200 kg Bengal tiger as his companion. While on the lifeboat, Pi begins to analyse his fears, both of the sea and the tiger.  
He gives this counsel: 'You must fight hard to express your [fear]. You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don't, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you.'
So pull back the curtain and expose your fears, each and every one. 
They're creatures of darkness and can't stand the sunlight. Financial fears, relationship fears, professional fears, safety fears - call them out in prayer. 
Drag them out and make them stand before God.
How do you do that? 'Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything... Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand...' (Philippians 4:6-7 NLT).
Soul Food: Num 16-18, Matt 11:20-30, Ps 107:33-43, Pro 3:27-28

Written by Bob & Debby Gass
Monday, 3 February 2014
APPS available here