"Don't Wordy 'Bout It"

Be careful for nothing: but in everything

by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving

let your requests be made known

unto God.

Philippians 4:6

I have often relayed the story of a little girl who once lived next door to us. Her name is Allison but everyone called her Allie at the time. She dearly loved my husband Brian. Little kids have always gravitated to him. Allie for a few weeks got into a bit of a habit. She pretty much knew when Brian would arrive home from work in the evening. It became a rather frequent thing for Allie to come over to the house just about the time Brian would arrive. I don't know what sense she had about it but when Allie arrived, I knew Brian wouldn't be far behind. Allie would ring the doorbell and walk into the house into the living room. She would plop on our couch right on the center cushion and would patiently wait. When Brian arrived, he would always do the same thing. He would walk over to her, point at her and say, “Allie, you are nothing but an alley cat.” She would fold her little arms and cross her legs at the ankles and just look at him waiting for him to repeat the sentence. Brian always accommodated her by repeating the same sentence. Her reply was always the same, “Don't wordy 'bout it.” Most of the time, she got to say her sentence twice. Allie was little, cute with wonderful parents and like most little children, had no real idea even what worry was and yet she spoke that word “wordy” with such authority.

I must admit to you that there are portions of Scripture I struggle with because they seem to be so incredibly impossible to follow or obey. Our above Scripture says that we are not to be anxious or worry about anything. Come on now...I could win prizes at this thing of worry and I hate to admit it. I am a born again Christian, I love God, I trust Him knowing He holds me in the palm of His hand and yet, worry for me has always been a personal and spiritual struggle. At one time worry gave me an ulcer. This was when I worked in a slum area in my early career days with hard to reach kids. I ate baby food til it was about to come out of my ears. The doctor told me to quit worrying...easy for him to say.

I must say at that time, I had never looked in the Bible regarding the subject of worry. I must say that I was really surprised. When in my 20's, worry was something I had really mastered and now I was told to drop it like a hot cake. Fortunately, I also learned that there was no sin I could overcome minus the strengthening and power of God in my life.

As I have looked at worry, there are somethings I have noticed that worry CANNOT do:

• It can't heal disease
• It can't put a marriage back together
• It can't find a job for an unemployed person
• It can't mend a broken friendship
• It doesn't pay bills
• It doesn't bring a wayward child to the Lord

Some physical problems resulting from worry can be:

• Eating eating disorders
• Sleep Disorders
• Headaches
• Moody
• Anger, temper outbursts
• Spiritual backsliding
• Selfishness
• Variety of mental disorders

Not only are we instructed by Paul to not worry or be anxious about things but gives us the way to overcome our worry. He says that with every worry, we are to pray about that concern. It doesn't intimate that we are just to take our worry to the Lord, have a little chat about it and then pick that concern up and walk away with it. No, we are to go to the Lord with a spirit of thankful supplication, LETTING our requests be made known to God. There's some hint of surrender in that word “let.” When we give over our concerns to God in faith, in that same moment, we are giving ourselves over to Him as well. When followed to the letter of God's Word, the end result will be:

And the peace of God which passeth all

understanding shall keep your hearts and minds

through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:7

(A word of caution...whatever our concern, if there are things we need to do to correct a situation, we need to do that. Buying a car you can't afford can end up causing worry, and eating 6 meals of junk food a day is a nervous and physical breakdown waiting to happen, or spending what money we have on frivolous things. There is such a thing as the prevention of worry by avoiding unwise decisions.)

There is nothing like the peace of God. People who know we are going through a troublesome time will be blessed when they see us walking in peace. That will be a witness to the power of God in our lives and an example for others. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could adopt Allie's innocent attitude, look in our own spiritual mirrors and just repeat a few times...”Don't wordy 'bout it.”

************************************************************************

Dear Father...I'm sorry for resorting to worry when things get tough. I know that my worrying will not solve a problem but will create more problems. Help me to trust You with my every care because I want to walk in Your peace. Thank You for being so powerful that You can handle anything that comes into my life. I love you....Amen