A thought by Craig Groeschel from his book, Dare to Drop the Pose (p. 107). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
And almost all of us need our faith expanded and our worry shrunk, don’t we?
Craig says, “My faith is starting to grow. What progress I’ve made has only come as I’ve internalized His truth. When I apply His truth, rather than giving in to anxiety, I live in His peace, which surpasses my understanding. When I don’t, I live paralyzed by worry and fear.”
He goes on, “The first thing God’s taught me is to take my mind off the ‘what ifs’ of worry. For years I played the what-if game. Maybe you’re acquainted with this pastime. The rules are simple:
Rule #1: You’re only allowed to think of worst-case scenarios.
Rule #2: You’re never allowed to win this game. You can only lose.
Rule #3: The more you play, the greater your losses.
He goes on, “I’ve had to make up my mind not to focus on the fearful what-ifs. That’s what Jesus taught. In Luke 21, Jesus warned his disciples about future hardships. He foretold false prophets, earthquakes, famines, pestilence, and wars. He told his followers they would suffer and be persecuted. From my perspective, these are things worthy of worry … but not to Jesus. He told them to ‘make up your mind not to worry beforehand’ (v. 14). I love the way He worded His statement. ‘Make up your mind.’ Decide ahead of time. Before anything happens, decide not to worry. Don’t dwell on what could go wrong. Trust Him. Don’t play the what-if game.”
He later says, “Let’s be honest. Worry never changes anything for good, so why should we waste our lives doing something so useless? Jesus even asked the question, ‘Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?’ (Matthew 6:27). In fact, almost every time I see worry mentioned in the Bible, it has two words in front of it: Do not.
“What if I told you that by worrying, we’re playing into the plan of our spiritual enemy? The evil one’s tool of fear is meant to distract us from God’s best. Fear and worry are a lot like a scarecrow. What harm can a scarecrow do? We scarecrow constructors know that the answer is ‘none,’ but the birds don’t know that.
“You’re smarter than a bird. That’s why the prophet Jeremiah says that some of the enemy’s greatest threats are ‘like a scarecrow in a melon patch... Do not fear them; they can do no harm’ (Jeremiah 10:5). Then he refocuses our attention where it belongs: ‘No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power’ (v. 6).
Craig then says, “If those black birds ever figured out our strategy, they’d realize that a scarecrow is actually a tip-off to the location of the best corn. So, isn’t it possible that the very fears the enemy tries to plant in your mind are unwitting advertisements for God’s good stuff? (Like a ‘Danger’ sign on God’s cookie jar.) Worry keeps you from God’s best. So take your mind off the what-ifs that grow out of fear.”
Now that is a good way to think about worry, isn't it?
Yes, yes!
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