“Worry is like a rocking chair; it doesn’t get you anywhere, but it gives you something to do.”
This statement is a “truism” given to me by one of my former pastors during a message that he preached one Sunday. The premise was, that as a child of God we should not worry about the necessary things of life, because the Lord has promised to meet our needs. No doubt we all spend time worrying over things that we cannot control. The Bible even tells us that the spirit of fear is not from God.
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
Yet, we still have situations that will cause us to worry. During the years of caring for our son Johnny, who had multiple health issues, there were many occasions that my wife and I were worried about what would happen to him. Would he survive a heart surgery? Was this infection going to be the one that would take his life? How long will his kidney transplant last?… The list went on and on.
During those times of worry were we having a lapse of faith? Some would say that we were after all the Bible tells us to, “Be careful for nothing.” I have always believed that we cannot control our emotions. Fear or worry, like most emotions, are brought on by circumstances. Can we control the emotions we feel in reaction to certain events? I personally don’t believe we can. However, how we react to those emotions is a different story.
Worry and fear are real emotions and we cannot just shut them off like a light switch. We cannot will our emotions away. However, we must not allow them to control our actions. Fear and worry can cripple us. We can become afraid to do the next thing because of how it may affect our lives. We no longer live, but allow our fears to hold us back.
King David faced many fearful situations in his life. He had many enemies that tried to destroy him. He never denied the fears he had, yet he didn’t give in to them either. He had a trust in his God that sustained him in spite of his worries and fears.
Psalm 56:3 “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”
Psalm 56:11 “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.”
Having feelings of fear or worry are not a sign of a lack of faith. We just can’t allow the spirit of fear to control us. Fearful times and worries are a part of life. Our reaction to those emotions needs to be a trust in the Lord in spite of our feelings.