Impact

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Next week we will look at some more causes and then the cure.

We all struggle with worry. My mom called it being a worrywart. Worrywarts come in all shapes and sizes. It’s not just that nervous person that you think of. Many times the worrier is the quiet, subdued person. Many times the greatest worriers are the people who seem like they have everything under control. But behind the scenes they’re constantly worried about keeping everything under control.

Today, we’re going to talk about how to reduce worry in our lives. Let me give you a list from a top Christian psychologist of some of the indicators of worry in our life. Twelve things that indicate that you are a person who is prone to or who is going to struggle with worry on a consistent basis.

1. Do you tend to dwell on problems? 2. Are you easily upset by small annoyances? 3. Do you feel insecure about the future? 4. Do you feel out of touch with God? 5. Are you naturally critically? 6. Do you exhibit physical symptoms like headache or backache? 7. Do you find it hard to accept defeat? (Like the first seven have already related exactly to you – that kind of defeat in life) 8. Do you feel burned out? 9. Do you find loose ends hard to handle? 10. Are you extremely time conscious? 11. Do you constantly rehash past events in the middle of the night? 12. Are you defensive and confrontational?

Who of us doesn’t have some of those on that list?

There is a story in the Bible of Jesus and His disciples in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. In this story, I see at least two things. First I see the causes of worry. If you’re going to begin to release worry from your life you have to understand what causes it. Be honest about where is this coming from. Second the cures for worry. What are some of the things that God can do in my life and your life to begin to free us from this worry problem that we struggle with?

Let’s begin with some of worries causes.

Matthew 8:23-24 “Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

There are some reasons they became anxious – the same reasons we do.

1. They became anxious because of the storm. One of the reasons we become anxious and begin to worry is because of unexpected problems. When problems come into our lives and they come so suddenly, it creates worry. This Sea of Galilee is in a natural wind funnel. So the storms come up suddenly, unexpectedly and fiercely. Just like when the storms of life – suddenly and unexpectedly come, these circumstances sweep over our lives. We start to think, where is the next one coming from? Who’s it going to hit next? So we begin to be anxious.

Some of you have had experiences like that, where the storms just keep hitting. Because of that and because you don’t know where the next one’s coming from, you begin to worry thinking that somehow that worry will help keep the next storm from hitting. It doesn’t, but we think if we keep thinking about and watching for these storms (crisis – setbacks) we will be able to avoid them. It never works.