How would you rate yourself on the “worry scale”? Are you one of the fortunate few who don’t have a care in the world, unaffected by anything that happens to you or around you? If so, congratulations. Maybe you should write a book to tell us your secret.
The rest of us, however, classify as worriers to one extent or another. After all, we live in a worrisome world. Some are able to limit their worrying to extraordinary things – like an asteroid colliding with the earth, an earthquake causing California to sink into the Pacific, or a volcano erupting in Omaha, Neb. For the rest of us, worries come in all shapes and sizes, about anything and everything.
Growing up, my mom was a world-class worrier. If there was something she could think of to worry about, she did. If there was nothing to worry about, she worried about that. I remember one day sitting next to her and in my vast teenaged wisdom, declaring, “Mom, if worrying did any good, I’d sit right here and worry twice as hard as you do.”
Of course, most teenagers can seem oblivious to how things can affect their little worlds. At that age they typically echo the famous words of MAD magazine’s Alfred E. Neuman, dating back to the mid-1950s: “What, me worry?” As we get older, we discover there’s plenty of things to worry about. This can lead to an affliction sometimes known as “worry warts.”
The COVID pandemic served as a perfect example. Especially during the early months, no one knew for sure what the world was dealing with. Would it prove to be on the scale of the Black Plague or bubonic plague, the Ebola virus, or something even worse? Fearing the worst, many of us social-distanced, quarantined, face-masked, got the jabs (at least the first one or two), and did just about everything the “experts” were recommending. National worry soared to an all-time high.
Thankfully those concerns have faded for most people, but that hasn’t stopped us from thinking of other stuff to worry about. We’d like to sing the little ditty of years past, “Don’t worry. Be happy,” but that seems much easier said than done.
Melanie Greenberg, a clinical psychologist and author of The Stress-Proof Brain, posits that 85% of the things we worry about never happen. Apparently, we’re conjuring up a lot of unnecessary mental stress and distress. Someone might argue, “Yeah, but what about the 15% of things that do happen? How do we tell which is which?”
I’m certainly not immune to worrying, but I have learned that rather than trying to know the unknowable – which things are truly worth worrying about – it’s a better plan to learn how to release our worries in the first place.
The Bible is filled with admonitions to exercise our faith in God rather than worrying about things beyond our control, but two brief passages in particular have served me well over the years. You might be familiar with one or both, but given our propensity for worry, they’re worth revisiting from time to time.
Philippians 4:6-7 exhorts, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The New Living Translation puts it this way: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done.”
Things we can justify worrying about – the upcoming Presidential and Congressional elections; inflation; global pandemics; threats of war; severe weather events, among others – are beyond our control, so why squander our emotional energy trying to figure out what can be done about them? Faith in the Lord means trusting that He is in control, He’s not surprised when adverse circumstances arise, and He’s fully capable of handling them – as He has throughout human history.
Instead of worrying and letting anxiety build, we can pray and submit our concerns and needs to God, expressing thankfulness in advance for what He’s going to do. Years ago, when I was facing open-heart surgery, the first couple of days were filled with anxiety. But as I prayed, committing my situation, my family and my future to Him, I truly experienced “the peace that surpasses all comprehension.” That has been the case for me and my family more times than I could count.
The other verse that immediately comes to mind is 1 Peter 5:7, which urges us to “Cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you.” It’s a simple but sound advice from the Scriptures. Whether it’s a serious health diagnosis, an overwhelming financial problem, family issues, or any of many other possibilities, knowing God is not only in control but also that He loves us and desires the best for us can lift the load of worry off our shoulders and place it on His more than able shoulders.
To amend Alfred E. Neuman’s quotation, we can declare, ‘What, me worry? I’ve handed all my worries to God. He can handle them a lot better than I can.”
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Robert J. Tamasy is a veteran journalist, former newspaper editor and magazine editor. Bob has written, co-authored and edited more than 15 books. These include the newly published, ”Marketplace Ambassadors”; “Business At Its Best: Timeless Wisdom from Proverbs for Today’s Workplace”; “Tufting Legacies,” “The Heart of Mentoring,” and “Pursuing Life With a Shepherd’s Heart.” A weekly business meditation he edits, “Monday Manna,” is translated into more than 20 languages and sent via email around the world by CBMC International. The address for his blog is www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com. His email address is btamasy@comcast.net.