3 Ways to Stop Worrying
How would you like to never worry about anything again?
Sounds great right? But the truth is you cannot stop worry from occurring. Even Jesus was honest and said, “If you live in this world, there’s going to be worry.”
There's constantly going to be a relationship thing or a financial thing. There's going to be a career thing. There's always going to be a set of problems in this broken world that potentially can create worry and anxiety inside your mind and in your heart.
So, if you can’t stop worry from occurring, maybe the better question is how do we respond when worry happens? When our souls, our minds, our hearts get this tinge of anxiety or worry, how do we respond to that?
Let me give you three things real quick.
1. Stop trying to control what you can't control.
Psalm 46 puts it this way…
10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. 11 The Lord Almighty is with us;”
That phrase, “Be still,” has caused me to really struggle with this verse. Because in the past, I have interpreted “be still” as “don't do anything.” But actually, this word “still” in Hebrew means to cease striving. So, the idea of “be still” is to cease striving.
In other words, in the midst of a world that feels like it's spinning out of control, you need to lean into the only one who's ever had control in the first place. For a lot of us, that can be a really difficult thing to do. But it is an important first step.
2. Look back.
I know in our culture we always say to people, “don't look back.” But sometimes it's really important. In fact, there are multiple times in scripture where we are told to look back and reflect because looking back helps us see where God has been faithful to us in the past. This gives us hope in our current situation that he will be faithful again.
Set up visual reminders for yourself around the house of God’s faithfulness, however that may look for you. It could be a journal, it could be a note on your bathroom mirror, or it could be a collage of art. Choose something that will remind you of a moment when you thought that it was all over...and then God showed up.
3. Pray about everything.
In Philippians 4, the Apostle Paul writes these words.
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.
Not taking that phrase, “pray about everything,” seriously is the biggest single barrier we have to overcoming worry.
Have you ever started to pray, and you're serious about it, and then 30 seconds later, you're thinking, “what's for dinner”? If so, let me tell you why.
At all times, there is a constant stream of thoughts in your head. Things like, did I pay that bill? I wonder if Sam is mad at me? What time is Clara’s practice tonight?
And honestly, most of your thoughts aren't spiritual at all, right? So, when you go to pray, you feel like you shouldn’t pray those thoughts because they don't seem very spiritual.
Instead, you pray about things that sound spiritual when you do pray. Things like, God be with the missionaries in India. All the while, your mind will wander to other things going on in your life, like whether you locked the door when you left this morning.
What you need to understand is that God wants you to pray about the things that are your biggest source of worry...whether they sound spiritual or not. If you are really worried about whether or not you locked the door this morning, pray about it. If you are really worried about whether or not someone is mad at you, pray about it. If you are really worried about whether or not you paid your bills on time, pray about it.
In other words…
Pray what's on your mind, not what you THINK should be on your mind.
Realize that every single thought that pops into your mind, every moment that you feel anxiety, every moment where you encounter worry is an invitation to talk to God. Talk to him about every single one of those things.
This may be news to you, but He WANTS to talk to you about those things.
You don't have to try to sound more spiritual than you are. Just pray what's on your mind.
There’s a strong connection between worry and prayer. Paul goes on to say what will happen if you begin to just pray about everything.
7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.
You were not made to live under the constant pressure of worry and anxiety. You were made to live in peace. There is a peace available that just doesn’t make sense. When other people see what you are going through, they are going to think about how crushing your reality must feel. But you have the ability to get out from under that crushing load and say, “You know, I know it doesn’t make any sense, and I know I should be a basket case of worry, but instead I have this peace that is drilled into the depths of my soul.”
All of us have a choice. You can go through life carrying the weight of the world, worrying about this and worrying about that.
But thank God there's another way, and it's the way that I would encourage you to go. Turn the control back over to God and let him give you a peace that passes all understanding.
For more resources on dealing with fear, I would recommend: