Knock knock - Worry here !!

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Knock knock - Worry here !!


That's the knock I hear at the door of my mind every now and then. Mostly I rush to the door and welcome this uninvited guest named Worry to make it's nest inside my mind. As I entertain this guest it makes sure not to leave my mind anytime soon. It's companions-  fear and depression follow, not long behind. Finally I find myself strangled and robbed of joy, peace and contentment.

I remember some of the childhood dreams I used to have before exams. Time running out, pen not working, teacher coming closer to take the paper and the fear of not being able to finish my exam. In my dream I was picturising all the "what if's" which I would have thought during the day - oh the fear and anxiousness. Suddenly I open my eyes with that dreaded feeling, only to find out that it was just a dream and not reality. Phew. What a relief !!

Worry is something similar to this. Worry is the whole bunch of "what if's". What if I fail? What if I get the virus? It is the vivid imagination of things which may or may not happen. 95 percent of the things we worry about never happen. So we are basically believing the lies and claims worry makes to us. We are hearing the knock of worry so amplified.

Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
Matthew 6:27
First I need to understand that worry cannot change my circumstances. It will only add adverse effects on my physical, emotional and spiritual health. The moment I let worry come inside, it cripples me emotionally with fear and despair. Physically I feel drained, experience high BP, digestive disorders and headaches among others.
Spiritually it prevents me from ministering and being ministered to, hence making me disobey the command of God which says don't be anxious. Overall it strangles me, bringing me to a state where I'm unable to do anything productive.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can comprehend. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. That's what we read in Philippians 4:6‭-‬7 

Don't worry 
It's an explicit command from God mentioned numerous times throughout the Bible. Such emphasis is given because God knows we are prone to do it. Men of the Bible were prone to do it. When I say to my child don't do certain things,I emphasize it knowing she will do it. It's on her part whether she obeys it or not. It's totally on our part if we willingly obey the command of God as His dear children.

Instead - what do I need to deal with worry?

1.Pray- Confront and Release
Yes when worry knocks at my door send prayer to answer it. As soon as worry strikes you no matter where you are, just close your eyes and pray “Lord I cast this care upon you because you can handle it better than me.” When we tell God about our need we are confronting the need of God's presence to deal with the worry. We are acknowledging that there is something that has to be dealt with. I release the burden from self to God and let him control it. 

2. Thank Him - Refocus your thoughts 
Thankfulness refocuses my thoughts to God. It helps me to hear God's voice louder than worry's knock. Martha was worried about many things because she was hearing the worries louder than God's word at His feet. Yes, to refocus our thoughts we need to be meditating on God's word, singing to and praising Him. As we hear God's word we move from fear to faith and slowly we feel ourselves getting free from the strangle of fear and we experience a supernatural peace of God inside us which is not based on our circumstances. This peace guards our heart and mind taking us from all those what if’s to even if’s. We say with the psalmist-
Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God
Psalms 42:5
Thankfulness opens our eyes to God's faithfulness, enables us to leap from fear to faith and fills us with praise and worship.

3. Seek help from others 
Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.
Proverbs 12:25
Yes, often an encouraging word from a dear friend whom we trust and speak out to cheers us up. It lifts us up from that pit of despair. God desires that we carry each other's burden, lift each other up.Speak out !! It helps. 

4. Go green
Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly father feeds them
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin.
Matthew 6:26,28
Spending some quality time with nature and gazing at its beauty helps us to see God's splendor and majesty in His creation. His sovereign provision, His care and love even for the insignificant birds. Yes, sometimes a break from your day and a date with nature is all that you need. A brisk walk, the seashore, a good coffee can make the change. Nature reveals to us God’s beauty, glory, power, wisdom, presence, creativity, and, most of all, his loving care.

Worrying is sin. The Bible says it's a lack of faith. We must take every step we have to, to stay away from this sin. As is the nature of sin, worry will keep knocking at your door, shouting louder. When you send prayer to answer it and let the peace of God stand as a guard to stop it from entering into our mind, you succeed. Don't let worry rob you of God's peace which surpasses all human understanding. May God help us to answer the knock with prayer, hearing louder God's word than worry's knock, making every effort to keep worry at bay. 




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