Trapped by Worry

Am I really different from anyone else when it comes to worrying? Worrying is part of what makes me human. How I handle that emotion—worrying—determines my personal perception of reasonability. In that sense, I find myself sometimes unreasonable.

Plato and Aristotle subscribed to the idea that art imitates life. Oscar Wilde ventured that life imitates art. There is truth in both perspectives. Certainly, corporate media influences how people dress or what is acceptable behavior while Michelangelo’s painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling uses art to imitate life.

I believe that worrying is an example of art imitating life. Just like any other craft, if all I do is worry, then, and most likely I become more than just proficient at my worry-craft; I become an accomplished artist. Unfortunately, the brushstrokes on my life-canvas contrived by such a perpetually apprehensive artisan is life debilitating. If left unchecked, the resultant life-canvas ultimately hangs in the hall of crippling anxiety.

In her book, Clippings from My Notebook, Corrie Ten Boom writes that worry does nothing for tomorrow, but certainly depletes today. When I find myself unduly apprehensive, I remind myself that Ten Boom is right.

In A Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, he writes that worry changes nothing. I humbly admit that Mr. Warren is a wiser man than me. Still, I don’t know how many times I’ve read or heard worrying changes nothing. I need to tell you that I disfavor hearing or reading such a cliché; it’s a trite precept fundamentally flawed; it does not tell me how to handle worrying. Granted, worry doesn’t change tomorrow, but I do know how I handle worry either makes me weaker or stronger. Such an emotional change impacts tomorrow.

Dr. Steven Hayes writes in Get Out of Your Mind and into Your Life that living a more productive life is not about escaping your worries, but embracing them. I have learned that I must embrace my worries if only to know exactly what I am giving the Lord to handle. I first address unproductive worrying through worry-recognition. I then couple that recognition with faith—a confidence—in a loving Lord (Matt. 6:25-34; Prov. 3:5-6; John 14:27; Phil. 4:6-7).

Lastly, I use gratitude to combat the doldrums that might keep me from appreciating the hope—and peace—I have in Christ. Gratitude provides me a dash of confidence—that spritz of relief I desperately need. At this moment, while I write this article at my desk, I am eating a sandwich. What is extraordinary to me—a feeling of gratitude—is that my sandwich has a spread of Caribbean Red Mustard. My wife created the Caribbean Red years ago while using ingredients from our home garden; I find that fact fascinating, incredible, and yes, soothing. I am grateful for her creation; it brings me immense pleasure.

Truly, it is the little things in life.

#Worry #Faith