Worry and Fear
WORRY AND FEAR
One Day at a Time
Matthew 6:25-34
Meet Today, today. Jesus showed very penetrating insight when he said: “So do not be troubled about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. The day’s own trouble is quite enough for the day” (Matthew 6:34 Moffatt). He was not saying there were no troubles to be met. There are. Life is bound to bring trouble. It is made that way. But don’t telescope the troubles of tomorrow and of the next day into today. Meet today, today; for if you put the troubles of next week into today by anticipation through worry, then you spoil today. You are meeting two sets of troubles at once: one set that is actually here, and the set that you bring in by worrying about tomorrow’s troubles. You are therefore meeting your troubles twice: once before they come, and once when they are actually here. Such a telescoping of trouble is a double expenditure of energy and needless. Worry is the advance interest you pay on troubles that never come. Some of them do come, and you can meet and conquer them separately. But tomorrow’s troubles plus today’s can “break” you.
Abundant Living
(Week 11, Saturday)
Your Commission Free from Stain of Worry and Fear
Matthew 6:24-34; Philippians 4:4-7; 1 Peter 5:7
Keep your commission free from the stain of worry and fear. Worry is not merely weakness; it is wickedness. It is atheism. It says that God has abdicated, and that we have to hold the world together by our worrying. The opposite happens. Worriers wreck their world. . . .
Worry, therefore, is sin—sin against God and ourselves. . . .
Fears are usually homegrown. Babies will handle snakes without fear, if there are no signs of fear on the faces of those around. To impose fears on children is crime. Don’t impose them on yourself or others. Live by cheer rather than by fear. Very few worries live long unless you give them careful nursing.
Abundant Living
(Week 51, Tuesday)
Cleanse Your Past
Luke 19:8-10
Make restitution where it is necessary or possible. I say make it where “necessary or possible” because sometimes it is not possible. There are things beyond your recall. Do not spend time in useless worrying over a past you cannot change. God forgives; let that suffice. God wipes it from the “book of remembrance.” So must you.
The Way
(Week 12, Sunday)
Matthew 14:29-31; 1 John 4:18
Fear has three things against it: (1) It is disease producing. (2) It is paralyzing to effort. (3) It is useless.
If these three things are true, then to conquer fear is one of the first conquests of life. Without that conquest, we limp through life. . . . The first word of the gospel was the voice of the angel, “Fear not.” The first word of Jesus after his resurrection was, “Have no fear!” (Matt 28:10 Moffatt). Between the first word and the last word, the constant endeavor of Jesus was to get people released from fear. We must learn his secret.
The Way
(Week 13, Sunday)
Many Diseases Rooted in Fears
Psalm 55:4-6; Luke 12:32
We know how fear and worry cause disease and how they hinder convalescence. Wounds would not heal, or heal slowly, if fear is at the center of life. Faith is healing and fear is hindering.
Release from fear is a physical necessity as well as a moral and spiritual necessity. It is a life necessity.
The Way
(Week 13, Monday)
Worry Is Sand in the Machinery
Psalm 31:10; Proverbs 15:13
Fear and worry often upset the natural functioning of the digestive tract. . . .
Fear also upsets the mental processes. . . .
O Christ, you have come to remove all fears; remove mine. For I know I cannot be at my best, your best, unless I am delivered, completely delivered, from fear. I would be whole. Amen.
The Way
(Week 13, Wednesday)
Don’t Fight Your Fears; Surrender Them
John 6:20-21; 12:15
When worry comes to the door, don’t give it the best seat and entertain it. Gently close the door and say: “I have surrendered you into the hands of God. You have no place or part with me anymore. I’m free from you.”
O Christ, these fears of mine I’ve held within my heart, and now I’m turning them over to you. I cannot master them, but you can. From this time on, they are in your hands and off mine. Amen.
The Way
(Week 14, Thursday)
God and You Meet Life Together
Isaiah 30:15; 35:3-4
Identify yourself, not with your fear, but with Christ. By surrendering fears to Christ, you are no longer identified with them. You are identified with him. “In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He has overcome your world of fear. You have become identified with him, and therefore you are identified with his victory.
The Way
(Week 14, Saturday)
How the Kingdom Comes
Matthew 13:31-33; Luke 17:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 1:5, 8
Yesterday we saw that the kingdom of God is to be sought first, last, and always. If you seek something else first, an inner restlessness will possess you; you will have a dull sense that you are not on the Way. Jesus said, “So do not seek food and drink and be worried” (Luke 12:29 Moffatt). Note that if you seek anything else first you do become “worried”; you know inherently that you’ve missed the Way.
The Way
(Week 49, Tuesday)
This Is All That Life Means
Matthew 6:27-30
Robert Louis Stevenson is widely quoted as writing: “Anyone can carry his burden, however hard, for one day. Anyone can live sweetly, patiently, lovingly, purely, till the sun goes down. And this is all that life means.”
If you are fettered by the fears of tomorrow, then surrender tomorrow into the hands of God and do it now, and then go out to live happily and effectively today. And tomorrow will blossom with joy because you have lived—really lived—today.
The Way to Power and Poise
(Week 46, Friday)
Life by the Inch Is a Cinch
Matthew 6:25-29
It is good that God has so arranged that life comes to us in manageable portions, one day at a time. Suppose all the future were dumped into our laps at one time. We would be overwhelmed. But the wise God broke life up into portions so small that anyone can manage it if we take it as it is given, one day at a time. So shut off yesterday and do not admit tomorrow; deal with today, today. The worries of yesterday plus the worries of tomorrow piled into today break the stoutest spirit. But divide your worries and conquer them.
Life by the inch is a cinch.
Growing Spiritually
(Week 7, Tuesday)
“Tenigue” (Tension and Fatigue)
2 Corinthians 11:23-28
Worry is like a rocking chair; it will give you something to do but won’t get you anywhere.
Growing Spiritually
(Week 7, Thursday)