Worry - God makes a difference

Introductory stories

Does God make a difference to worry?
Let me start off with a few stories .

When I have had a busy day on call as a GP by the time I get home I may have spoken on the phone to or seen about 80 patients. My mind can be churning with half thoughts and worries about the day. Have I listened well? Have I made good decisions? I can block these thoughts out in the evening by keeping busy, but if I haven’t given them any attention before bedtime they all come flooding back as I try to sleep and churn around in my head.
As I follow Jesus how does that help me with my worry?

Gunita is part of our church, and she told me about a time a couple of years ago when she started to worry. She was worried about her children especially when she was trying to go to sleep at night. She worried about their safety, and every little noise triggered off a whirlwind of anxious thoughts. She was waking up in the night worried and unable to go back to sleep.
Gunita is a follower of Jesus. What did that mean for her worry?

Let me tell you about my friend Jan. I lived with Jan when we were studying to be doctors together. When I met up with Jan a few weeks ago she told me about how she had recently shared her story with worry in her church. .
Jan described the things that make her worried. She wrote ‘being driven in the car, going to shops –particularly clothes shops, and being away from my family for long. I hate not being in control, and I get very anxious about disappointing or upsetting people, and I have a constant fear that people will find out that I'm not the together, in-control person that I try to project myself as, so I work hard at keeping it under wraps.
How does worry affect Jan? She says she get a tight feeling in my chest of not being able to breathe, shaking, various aches and pains. She said ‘My imagination can conjure up all sorts of awful scenarios which generate vicious spirals that are hard to break out of. I try to avoid things that make me feel anxious if possible.’
Jan is a follower of Jesus. What does that mean for her worry?

Philippians 4 v 6-7

On your cards you’ll find a passage written by Paul, who has planted churches but also suffered much for his faith. He had been put in prison and tortured. He is writing to the Philippians. He starts by encouraging them not to worry. He then talks about how he has coped with trouble.

 
I really like visiting Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and as a backdrop to my talk today, I’ve chosen some of the many photos I’ve taken there.

What is worry?

Worry is a churning pattern of negative thoughts that we find hard to get out of. Someone called Corrie Ten Boom described worry as a ‘cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling round a centre of fear’

The English word we use for worry comes from the old English word wrrgan, which literally means to strangle. That’s what worry does, The thoughts churn away in our mind and they strangle us.

Worry can be a natural reaction to bad stuff happening. If you or your loved one have a sudden health scare, or a change at work, then worry is a natural reaction. For some however that worry becomes more troublesome, and the thoughts become more and more. Soon the worry can be more of a problem than the bad stuff that is happening.

Worry is more part of some people’s personalities than others. It may be a reflection of our temperament, or things we have been exposed to in the past, or a learnt way of responding to stuff that happens.

Another way of describing worry is like a cloud, a cloud of thoughts, or a cloud of worries. The worry cloud may well contain lots of what ifs and unknowns. One day you worry about one thing, and another day the thoughts churn about something slightly different. There may be themes, but the worries change. We call this worry floating worry. Because floating worry is about things that are not easy to solve sometimes we find it hard to talk about.

Do you worry?

As I am describing worry some of you know that at time you have worrying thoughts. For others this is not so familiar to you.
Some of us have churning negative thoughts that are slightly different from worry. You may find this talk helpful as you apply what I am saying to your churning thoughts.
Others of us genuinely have a positive outlook on life and do not struggle with this. I hope this gives you an insight in how to care for those who you know who worry.

But there are times when difficult situations come to all of us, and I hope that thinking about worry now will give us some tools to help us cope in the future.

What to do about worry

It is OK to have worried emotions and thoughts at times! Having a worrying thought in itself is not wrong. When facing exams a certain amount of concern is healthy, and spurs us on to revise and practice questions. So, when is worry too much and what can we do?

Understand your worry

One thing that helps dealing with worry is to recognise what is going on.
If you have many worrying thoughts start to take a note of what they are. Are there any themes? Perhaps there are times when you often worry.

Some of us worry about bad things happening –maybe to do with money or loss of employment, or those we love or our health. Others worry about what people think of us or how we think we should behave. We may worry about being embarrassed in public or not being in control. We may worry whether we may have done something to upset someone. Some of us worry about whether we are good enough for God, or whether God will speak to us or answer us when we call to him.

Some of the things we worry about are easily solvable. Other things we worry about are things that do not have an easy answer,
Try writing down worries in a journal over a period of time. Or maybe tell a friend all the things you are worried about. As we identify them we can start to discern what to do next.
May you understand your worry and see it clearly, without distortion.

Let Jesus displace worry and set you free

Looking back to the Philippians passage God doesn’t want us to be worried. It starts by saying don’t fret or worry.
Jesus came to set us free. He wants to set us free from things that imprison us, worry is something that can imprison us. Listen to what Jesus said about himself


If worry is imprisoning you Jesus wants to set you free.
Remember Gunita was scared in the night worrying about what was going to happen to her children. Gunita was on a weekend away with the women from the church when in the prayer time Kate felt God wanted to help someone who was afraid in the night. Gunita responded and asked for prayer. After the prayer her worries went away and she has not been worried in the same way since! From that night she was able to sleep through the night without difficulty.
God set Gunita free. His power can break the cycle of worrying thoughts. There are a variety of ways you can be set free. Jesus came proclaiming freedom.

In the Philippians passage the phrase that’s used is ‘its wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the centre of your life’ When Jesus brings his freedom he comes into the centre of your life and displaces worry.
May you be set free with Christ himself displacing worry at the centre of your life.

Shape worries into prayer

Prayer is a great part of our response to worry. Let’s look again at the passage in Philippians.

There are different aspects to prayer. After my busy day at work I turn to God and telling him stuff and

I get his perspective. As I shape my worries into prayer a sense of his wholeness settles me down.

Sometimes we are worrying about something that the only thing we can do about it is pray. It is a situation of genuine need, and we need to pray for Gods power to break in. We are called to intercede, and to come to God regularly, That is also shaping worries into prayer.

My friend Jan finds reading Psalms helpful. Psalms are prayers to God that others have written, and they contain truth about God. When our worries crowd in, it is good to use Psalms as prayers to say to God and for truths to grab hold of.
May you sense Gods wholeness as you shape worries into prayer.

Be renewed in your mind

Paul says in the Bible passage for us to think about what is good. He says to think about ‘Whatever is true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious, the best, beautiful’ It is a challenge for us to renew our thought lives. I think it is a challenge for all of us, not just worriers.

What are we thinking about, and is it good and wholesome? Maybe you have a pattern of bitter thoughts, angry thoughts or jealous thoughts. Jesus is challenging us to change the pattern of our thoughts, and providing us help to do that.

Elsewhere in the Bible this is described as

I don’t think I have a massive problem with worry. However by exploring worry and becoming aware more of my thoughts I have become aware that at times I have a tendency for thoughts to churn over and over in my mind. The picture of a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling round is one I can relate to.

I have a couple of tips, but I can point you to more information and resources on these in ‘The worry book’ which is written by a couple of Christian experts in the field.

• Be willing to explore your thoughts and stay with them. Try and allow them space to work out what God is saying and how he feels about your thoughts
• Balance bringing your thoughts to God with reading the Bible. It is a great way to meditate on what is true, noble, right pure and lovely. Read the Bible slowly and let it soak in.
• Explore your thoughts but at the right time! Sometimes you can put off worry. If in between some of my 80 patients a worry comes up – whether about the previous patient, or my ability to be a good GP. I can postpone worry and decide to give it some
  thought later. I write down a key word on a piece of paper. Then later I can spend time with my concerns.

Christ wants to come into our thought lives, come right into the centre and help us be able to think about what is his truth. May you find ways for God to transform and renew your mind.

Turn worry into action

Some of our worries actually have a very simple solution, something practical. Think back to my day at work jumbling around in my head. Sometimes, there is a very specific solution to one of those worries, a blood test I should order, a medical article I could read to get some help. I need to turn my worry into action – do something specific.

If we are worrying about some things one question we can ask is ‘what is the next thing I have to do about this?’ we then concentrate on what the next thing is, and trust that after that step has been done we will work out the next step.
One thing we can do with worry is work out when we can turn worry into action.
May you know when to turn worry into action.

Know Gods peace and his perspective

Look at the last section of the Philippians passage. Paul is talking about how he has learnt to be content whatever his circumstances. On this occasion he is talking about whether he has food, clothing and provision, and sometimes he clearly did not have enough. He could have worried about that, but was learning to be content.
Paul says that he does this because of who he is in Jesus. He says
 

The fact that Jesus has saved him, called him to be his child, healed him and is with him is more important than anything that is going on externally. He knows what his identity is because of what Jesus has done for him, rather than whether he has food, clothes or freedom.

We may worry about having enough money or provision. We live in a world where disease and other bad things happen. Unfortunately some of the uncertain things we worry about may happen.
We can ask God to give us his perspective and peace so we can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am

There is another longer term perspective; a promise of God’s that in the end there will be no worry and no things to worry about. In the very end of the Bible there is a promise that God will be with his people and he will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. I think that knowing the end of God’s story, helps us gain a perspective of trust.

God gave Paul a change in perspective, but he also gave him a gift of peace. Is there in verse 7 ‘Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down’
Whatever is going on in your life may you have God’s perspective and may he give you his peace.

Help each other

Look at the last phrase of the passage. Paul says ‘It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my trouble’
How can we help each other journey through this journey of worry? Housegroups, friends and family are our main source of support. If you do not worry, then be thankful, and ask God to give you insight in how to support those who worry.

My sister Clare described her worries as a cloud descending on her from time to time. When she was depressed she would worry about all sorts of things – from whether she had wasted resources by letting a few carrots go bad at the bottom of the fridge to much bigger issues. One thing she found helpful was having a close friend listen to her and let her express all her worries. At the end she said they would say something simple like ‘I think we are going to get through this’. Listening to each other can be helpful.

Another way we can support each other is by praying for each other. There was a time when the worry cloud was so troublesome to my sister that she found it almost impossible to pray. Several of us agreed to pray every day for her, and she found great support in that.
Be open to God giving you something specific to pray. God may want to use words, Bible verses and prophecy to help set people free.

Kate had a specific word for Gunita, and saying it allowed Gunita to respond to God and be set free.
Remember Jan, my doctor friend who struggles with her worries. What did she find helpful? She found a book on anxiety very helpful. She has learnt some relaxation exercises and done some online modules of something called CBT. She has seen her GP and taken some medication at times.

She said that talking about her worry to others in church has been helpful to her. She also says ‘I would love to tell you a success story, perhaps of how God healed me, but I am still quite broken. I long for Jesus’s shalom peace to be a reality in my life. I could free up so much time and energy if I didn’t feel anxious about things all the time’
My copy of the worry book will be on the resources table in the street along with information on how to get hold of a copy.

Here are some places to get more help.

Leedsletschange has details for how to access counselling in Leeds, an online CBT course and some information leaflets.
Mind and soul is a useful website for more resources on worry, with many articles written by those that wrote the worry book.


There will be people like the stories I have shared In your work place, in your family, in your housegroup. Part of many of the stories are moments when, like Paul people come alongside each other in their trouble. Paul said it is a beautiful thing. May we help each other through this journey of worry.
 

Conclusion

I have covered some details on what worry is and how it can choke us. How it can imprison us. Jesus wants to bring us freedom. He is with us and brings power to change. He wants to give us his peace and his perspective. On your card you’ll find a reminder of the things I’ve said which I hope you’ll keep and find useful when the need arises.

God wants us as a community to learn to support each other as we are anxious.

Using those points, I would like to pray for you.