5-10-20 Worry Worshipping

Quote: “Worry is worshipping the problem.” – Toby Mac

When I think of the word worship, I think of the words devotion and loyalty and adoration.  I also think of worship music, which is a kind of music that is sang about and to God.  It also makes me think of the photos I’ve seen of those beautifully and intricately carved wooden or stone idols from ancient history that were worshipped.  What you give your time and effort to is what you worship – you’re 100% all in.

But I don’t like associating the word worry with the word worship.  That kind of makes my skin crawl.  I don’t worship my kids, my husband, my mentors, or my role models.  So why would I want to worship something harmful like worry?  Worry is a natural, emotional reaction to situations we are concerned about, but it is often over things we have no control over.

There are many moments during this pandemic that have been a doozy for me.  When I think of my 99-year-old great-grandma trapped (but safe!) in her room all alone, my anxiety level instantly goes up.  When I think of my friend who lost her grandma and because of restrictions, wasn’t able to celebrate her grandma’s life with a proper funeral, fear grips me – I know that it could easily happen to our family, too.  When I think of letting my own 3 boys eventually go to a playground or be on a soccer field or sit in a classroom, my palms start to get sweaty.

Instead we should change that “stinking thinking” to praying and letting God take control of the situation.  What does that sound like?  It sounds like a prayer like this: “Lord, I’m scared.  The unknown is so scary.  I admit I am falling apart.  Worry is starting to take over my mind.  I am trying to give you complete control of this situation but it is so hard.  Please help me to get out of the driver’s seat.  I want the freedom that comes from total surrender.  While I admit I don’t understand why I’m going through this mess, I apologize for questioning your reasons.  I choose to believe you have the best intentions for me.  I choose to focus on being more like you instead of focusing on my problems.”

Have you ever prayed like that?  If you have, you know the absolute peace that washes over you when 100% give something to God.  If we could bottle that feeling up and sell it, we’d be rich!  If you’ve never experienced that, you are missing out.  It is indescribable!  You must experience it for yourself to truly understand how it feels to let God take control.

Besides prayer, the Bible is an amazing manual for life and can bring such comfort in times of worry.  Jesus is my go-to guy for how to handle my everyday problems.  Jesus told a great story in Matthew 6:25-34 about birds and flowers.  I encourage you to look it up and read it.  It definitely puts things in perspective about how useless worry actually is.  In verse 27 of the story, Jesus says, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”  His message is simple and straightforward: when we worry, we are actually taking away precious minutes of our life, rather than making our future better.  Worry literally sucks the life right of you.  It makes an already hard situation even worse.  And if we dwell on something we are worried about for long enough, it will eventually cripple us, taking minutes, hours, days, and years from our precious time on earth.

If you can lean on your faith to get you through hard times, you are worshipping God.  And this kind of worship focuses on solutions, rather than problems.  We must choose wisely what we worship.