Maybe mind-numbing fear doesn’t grip you on a daily basis, but are niggling worrisome thoughts ruling your existence? Leslie uncovers the lies many of us are believing surrounding worry and shines a biblical perspective on how to overcome worry with the grace and strength found only in Christ!
PODCAST TRANSCRIPT
Key Scriptures
Ephesians 2:10
Matthew 6:25, 31, 34
Joshua 1:19
Jeremiah 8:9
Podcast Summary
If you find yourself beginning sentences with “what if” frequently, you could be slipping into a worry-filled mindset. This was never God’s design for us, as the Bible says that we have been created in Christ Jesus for good works that He has prepared beforehand for us to walk in (see Ephesians 2:10). By understanding the following three key principles, you can be set free from the what ifs and instead fully turn your attention and focus on what you have been created to do for His glory!
Three Key Principles to Overcome Worry
- Understand What Worry Does
In a world that seeks to rename worry as wisdom, we must realize that worry only hinders us from being present and living fully in the moment God has given us. Reject the worries of tomorrow by realizing that it is impossible to try and live out tomorrow’s cares on today’s grace! Whether we realize it or not, we are not victims to worry. Worry does not have any rights to claim our life and we are not left helpless against it.
In order to live in the present, it is important that we forsake the worldly wisdom of worry we receive from the culture. (i.e. This product could cause cancer! This toy could poison your child! If you don’t practice self-care you will burn yourself out!) Be watchful of whose opinion your are believing. It is easy to pay heed to the latest expert, medical study, or research – but we must remember that if these individuals have rejected the Word of God as their ultimate authority, then their wisdom does not have the final say. (Read Jeremiah 8:9.)
Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength — carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.
Corrie ten Boom
Worry is refusing the given. Today’s care, not tomorrow’s, is the responsibility given to us, apportioned in the wisdom of God. Often we neglect the thing assigned for the moment because we are preoccupied with something that is not our business just now. How easy it is to give only half our attention to someone who needs us – friend, husband, or little child –
because the other half is focused on a future worry.
Elisabeth Elliot
Wherever you are, be all there
Jim Elliot
2. Understand the Grace of God
Worry discredits the mighty power and strength of God’s grace in a believer’s life. Remember, grace is more than the hug of God, it is the ability to do what in our own strength would be impossible. We must rest in the knowledge that God can turn anything the enemy meant for evil to good in our lives. He will not allow us to walk through trials we can’t handle, and if we are walking through a difficulty, we can triumph through the challenge when we approach the Lord with an, “I can’t, but YOU can!” attitude.
3. Have a Biblical Approach to Capture Fearful Thoughts
While we may not be able to keep a worry-filled thought from entering our mind, we have complete control over what to do with the thought when it arrives. Worry does not have to overwhelm, unsettle or unnerve us. The key is to identify worry and replace it immediately with truth. Build a library of key Bible verses that will lead you out from under worry and into the freedom of God’s grace by rehearsing truth when the enemy comes knocking at the doors of your mind. While it may feel tedious and time-consuming at first when switching fearful thoughts to faith-filled thoughts– it is more than worth it! Train your mind to dwell on His reality, develop a habit to say no to the enemy’s suggestions, and see how God’s strength and grace can make you spiritually offensive, starting today!
