Reflections on the Book Winning the War on Worry. Lie #4

 "I have to worry.  OF COURSE I have to worry!!! If I don't worry, who will??"

This is my stance every single time that something slightly problematic may seem to be spotted in the distant future.  I worry and panic as if by worrying I could stop it from happening or control how things would turn out.  Reading the book, Winning the War on Worry is teaching me, however, that this attitude is not just a part of my dysfunctional mindset when facing problems.  This posture is actually the result of me believing a lie from the enemy that is designed to distance me from my Heavenly Father.  This position stems from lie #4: I can control the outcome by worrying.

Author Louie Giglio says that this lie from the devil tries to convince us that if we think about the situation long enough, we can control how it turns out.  Therefore, we obsess!  We think, and we concoct, and we mull over, and we visualize, and we machinate, and we ruminate until we believe we have covered all the angles and chewed it all over into a swallowable, sweet compote that goes down easily and to our satisfaction.  In reality, however, nothing is further from the truth.  By God's grace, says Pastor Giglio, the only thing we can control is how we react to things.  That's it!

Remember what Jesus asks us in Luke 12: 25-26

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

All outcomes are up to God's plan.  Worrying, on the other hand, does not accomplish anything other than the devil's plans.  Is that what we want to be doing? Helping the enemy accomplish his evil plans for our lives? Of course not! So why do we worry? We worry because we have fallen into the trap of believing that worry is useful.  And if you are like me, that mindset has been sculpted into your brain on granite!  It's our default mode.  We do it without even thinking about it.  And now, we are left with the hard work of changing our reaction to problems...which is the only thing we can control.  We have to replace worry with something else...but what?  What is strong enough to sledge hammer that granite and pulverize it? 

Pastor Giglio says, the first step is to recognize that WE. ARE. NOT. GOD!

Once we go into the worry mode and we smell the first stench of the obsession bottle opening up (remember that cologne by Calvin Klein in the 80s...sorry, I digress), we need to recognize it and pause...and say: I am not God.  I am not in charge.  I am not in control.  I don't run the show. I am simply a part of God's plan.  Yet, I know He loves me.  So I will pray, trust and obey...and release...

We pause, pray, trust and release.  OVER and OVER and OVER again.  Yes, this is not a one time deal, my friends.  You know it.  We do this once, and then we go back to our default.  So it requires us to be very intentional and to pay a lot of attention to our reactions.  Remember, we have built a granite statue to worry, like the ancient Israelites who built those Asherah Poles and statues of Baal we see in Kings 1 and 2, which they could not, for the life of everything beautiful in the world, get rid of!  No matter how many prophets God sent and how many times He spoke to them...Kings, after Kings, after Kings just could not bring themselves to destroy such idols...that is basically what we go through when trying to destroy the idol of worry that we have safely built in the high places of our inner being.

The labor is arduous and it requires constancy but most of all, it requires prayer and surrender.  Prayer that the Holy Spirit would direct our path towards a life in which worry is not our first instinct.  Prayer that Christ will give us His strength to surrender to God's plan, which, though inscrutable, it is, indeed, perfect!  Prayer that we forgive ourselves when we fall back on our worry routine, and not experience that guilt that separates, but enjoy the mercy that draws us back to the Heart of Jesus that is ALL MERCYFUL!  Prayer that we can continue to try to attempt this over and over an over again.  This is how we can open the door to the peace that Jesus promised, so it can enter into our hearts, souls and minds like a hurricane, or a gushing current, cleaning up all the gunk we've built up over the years, destroying our idol of worry...to finally allow us to breathe...and let go...and be free.  

"Of course I have to worry!"  No I do not.  Nobody has to.  It's in God's hands, whatever "it" is...He already has it worked out.  I am NOT God.  So I'm going to step down and let Him do His thing! In the Precious Name of Jesus.  Amen!