Four keys to stop worrying.

Hubby and I were enjoying a nice lunch at a local restaurant the other day. And as I munched on my salad, I noticed a taste of pasta.

“Hmm…” I thought. I don’t remember noodles being part of the oriental salad I ordered.

I made a comment. And that’s when hubby admitted. Without me knowing (advantages of having a blind wife) he scooped a portion of his dish onto my salad. I smiled because the blend of flavors was pretty tasty.

Did that ever happen to you? You’re going through life, enjoying pleasant events. When, without you realizing it, someone has dumped something you never expected. It happens to most of us. The only thing is that often, unlike tasty pasta, what was added tastes awful.

I’m talking about stuff the world adds to our day—fear, anxiety, stress. But the most common one is worry. I can almost guarantee that as you’re reading this, in the back of your mind, worry has come in. That pesky habit of worrying about something, about someone…until you cannot enjoy the salad of life anymore. That’s when emotional indigestion sets in.

Good news: seated across the table and observing as we go through our plate of tasks, goals and dreams, Jesus sees how the enemy slips worry on our plate.

According to Him, in Matthew 6, He tells it like it is regarding distasteful worry:

• Carve out all kinds of worry, big and small: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body…”

• Consider a more sound perspective: “s not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?”

• Count on His provision: “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.”

• Claim your value: “Are you not much more valuable than they [the birds in the air]?”

• Create a new motto—Jesus’ motto: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

Father, I confess, worry comes in as an intruder that often robs my joy. I shall embrace your instruction not to worry. It doesn’t belong in my heart where you reside, where you rule and where you placed your peace. In Jesus’ name, amen.

• What has you worried today?
• What promise in God’s Word speaks to your heart?
• How can you conquer worry?

Janet