Three More Ways to Put Worry out of Business

Three More Ways to Put Worry out of Business -christyfitzwater.com

My mom calls it “cauliflower ear,” which is what happens to wrestlers when their ears get pressed into the mat too many times. I will not post an image of this but will leave you to your imagination. “I’ve got cauliflower ear,” she says to me, when I’ve talked too long.

You might be saying that today, after I go on about worry.

But after we hung up from our last talk on worry, I thought, “Oh wait! I thought of three more ways I’m finding calm in place of anxiety!” So I’m going to continue the conversation. Grab a second cup of coffee and sit a spell.

NEW THINKING #3

Know your limits.

A few years ago I had one super hard, humbling year that almost killed me but didn’t quite. In that year, I learned the meaning of this statement Jesus made:

Blessed are the poor in spirit…  (Matthew 5:3 NIV)

Poor means you turn your pockets inside out and find nothing. During that hard year, my soul got turned inside out and not even pennies clinked to the floor.

Best thing that ever happened to me, because I started praying these eloquent words more and more often: Lord, I got nothin’.

Don’t know anything.

Can’t see past this day I’m in.

Not enough resources for expenditures, including emotional, financial, and brain expenditures.

The problem with worry is that you think you do have something. You think maybe you can work the problem, but that’s giving yourself a lot of credit. You’ll never be free of worry until you profoundly understand how much you lack to fix your own life.

We need help. We need Jesus.

NEW THINKING #4

Sing praises to God.

A decade ago I went to Uganda because the Lord asked me to, but I did not want to go. Everything about the trip freaked me out. In the months before I crossed the pond, singing at church took on an embarrassingly new turn for me. All of a sudden I was desperate (i.e., poor in spirit.)

So I walked into church in a panic, and as we sang praises I prayed, “Lord, you’d better be all of these things that we’re saying you are!” I sang like I had never sung before. (Note to church musicians: Your job is important.)

In the singing, I verbally stated my beliefs about God.

Yes, you are faithful.

Yes, you are good.

Yes, you are with me.

I believe. I believe. I believe. (I have to believe!)

Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.  (1 Chronicles 16:9 NIV)

People who are worried must regularly go to church and sing truth. Sing it loud. Raise your hand and say, “I believe what I’m singing.”

Which leads me to my third point…

NEW THINKING #5

When I got back from Uganda, I cried through every worship song, because I could say, Yes, you were.

Yes, you were faithful.

Yes, you were good.

Yes, you were with me.

The great thing about getting older is that I can look back through my bulging file folder of ways God has taken care of me in the past.

Somewhere over the last few months, I’ve thought, “I’m so stupid to worry when I have all of these stories of God’s provision behind me.” It’s insulting to Him if I let anxiety rule my heart. I can hear him saying, “Really? I mean, really? You’re going to worry about this new thing?”

So I’m just not.

Which brings me to thoughts on taxes.

In that really hard year I was telling you about, in the same month that I was trying to figure out how to be a Spanish teacher, pay for our daughter’s wedding, and grieve my father’s death, we got the news that we owed $1200.00 in taxes. It was devastating, and I used the word “sunk.” I thought we were sunk.

But somehow (and mathematically in the checkbook it did not make sense), every month we kept making it through. For a year I would turn the calendar page and think, “This is the month in which we sink.” But enough money just kept being there. We had a meager savings, and we never even had to touch it. How in the world did that happen?

God took care of it.

Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.  (1 Chronicles 16:9 NIV)

So I’m waiting to hear from the tax guy this year, and I have been conditioned to assume the worst. You’re with me, right? But how could I worry about taxes? I’m just not going to. God has been faithful one too many times for me to lose sleep over it.

Calm.

Peace.

These are the words Jesus gives to us. I pray for you today that you will do what it takes to claim them:

  1. Remember God exists in your future. He’s already working your problems.
  2. Think rationally. Think biblically. Do not allow yourself to be ruled by strong emotions.
  3. Know your limits. Live in poverty of spirit. Embrace your own neediness.
  4. Go to church. Sing praises to God alongside other believers. Believe what you sing.
  5. Sing praises to God. Remind yourself of his wonderful acts. He helped you before, and he will help you again. He promises never to ditch you.

And since I know for sure you already have cauliflower ear, may I add this thought: What if we become peaceful people? Will that not get the attention of those around us who do not know the saving power of Christ? Won’t they wonder and ask how in the world we are so calm and free of worry? We owe it to our people to figure this thing out.

6 Comments

  1. I cant tell you how much I need this today. I’ve been battling anxiety too much all week, and then hit with bad news yesterday regarding our taxes that floored my husband and I. I don’t want to insult the Lord any longer with the crippling anxiety and fear that has ruled my mind. I am claiming this Truth and His promises starting today! Thank you for this.
    And by the way, one of my son’s is a wrestler, no cauliflower ear yet! 🙂

    1. Oh no!!!! I’m so sorry. Hard financial news has had me curled in a fetal position on more than one occasion. But God is so good over and over again. I encourage you to see this as a wonderful adventure of trusting God to take care of you. Rest in him. I pray he’ll encourage your hearts today!

  2. Kristie Fox says:

    I too have a daughter that worries a lot, pretty sure she gets it from her mother. I printed both of these out for us to read and remind ourselves often. He really is in control and will never ditch us! It really got to me when you mentioned that it is “insulting” to God when we worry. Oh my how I’ve insulted Him through the years. Hoping to fix that, starting now! I found your posts through Club31women and have to say you’re my favorite.

    1. I cannot think of a greater encouragement you could give me, than to know you are taking to heart what I’ve shared with you from the Scripture. I pray the Lord will bless your efforts to leave worry behind!

  3. Christy, worry has been a HUGE topic at our house recently. I shared your previous post with my daughter just yesterday and I can honestly tell you i desperately needed this follow up today. THANK YOU.

    1. I pray God will help you lead the way in showing your family how to be at peace, as you trust in the Lord. Leaving worry behind is possible!

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