...With Worry

"Fret not thyself because of evildoers..." Psalm 37:1

I tend to worry too much. So I thought I'd blog on something for me and all the other worry warts out there.

Jospeh B. Worthlin said, "When we worry about the future, we create unhappiness in the present. Righteous concern may lead us to take appropriate action, but worrying about things we cannot control can paralyze and demoralize us.

Instead of worrying, focus on doing all that you can, and then leave the worrying to your Heavenly Father. If your heart is right with Him, He will take care of the worry and the fear. We must learn to 'fret not.'"

Nothing good comes out of worry. I think of times in my life where I get worked up with worry and before long am nauseous, unable to do much. Usually I find that whatever I am worrying about works itself out or wasn't as bad as I thought.

J. Spencer Kinard explained that "someone has mathematically calculated that forty percent of our worries will never materialize; thirty percent deal with old decisions that cannot be changed; twelve percent focus on criticism that is mostly untrue; ten percent deal with our health, which only worsens when we worry; and only eight percent are legitimate. The point we would make is that life does have real problems that may be met head-on when we eliminate useless and senseless worry." 

But how do we deal with worry? We turn to the Lord. Show our trust through earnest prayer and scripture study. In Psalm 37 David teaches that to actively pray we need to stop worrying and put our faith in God. Fear, or worry, can't exsist in the same realm as faith.

I once had a friend who knew how much I worried. When he saw me worrying over something he would stop me and remind me, "Why is this important? What is more important? What will worrying do to fix this?" That self reflection has made so much difference in my life.

So before you worry, stop for a moment and ask yourself the same thing. Turn to the Lord, let him take your worries from you, and put your full faith in Him, who died for every care and worry.

...With Music

I've always loved to sing. I remember when I was younger I would sing all the time at home, but I was never very comfortable with my singing voice. Throughout the years I've grown to have more trust in myself and how I sing. I love when I have opportunities to sing, whether it's just while I'm in the shower, at church, or singing in front of other people.

The other day I was visiting an older woman, Margaret. She brought up the music she heard in church and I started singing the hymn she mentioned without much thought to it. She sat quietly until I had finished the song and then simply said, "sing another." My companion and I sang song after song and the spirit was so strong. I could tell that Margaret appreciated music that praised God and Jesus Christ.

After almost an hour of singing she sat contemplating the songs we had song, and then brought up The Lord's Prayer set to music. She told us of the day her father passed away and that she sang this song at his funeral. I'd never heard of it before, so she encouraged us to look it up. I was touched as I listened to the music and I hope you will be too. Margaret has asked that I learn this song so we can sing it together. I hope that if I do learn it I can do it justice.