Worry-or OR Warrier?

Is “worry” a sin?  I asked myself this question years ago. I have been a great Worry-or!  Fretting about how my kids are doing.  They are all adults now.  Worrying about the state of the world.  It is really a mess.  Worrying about what to fix for dinner, what to wear…next week for that appointment that I have yet to schedule!  YIKES! How much time, energy and peace of mind am I consuming just on worry?  All things that I cannot change.

Dr. Caroline Leaf (www.dr.leaf.com  )maintains that worry, anxiety, fretting, and toxic thinking actually cause brain damage.  The Apostle Paul exhorts us that because the Lord provides for everything we need and that He watches over us, cares for us and Loves us fully, that we need not worry or be anxious about ANYTHING. Millions-perhaps billions—of dollars are spent every year by folks attempting to alleviate stress, worry and fretting.  Yet we continue to be addicted to anxiety and worry, thinking that this will somehow make our lives better.  We think that we will get results from other people if we worry enough. I get sucked in the false thinking that somehow the situation will turn out better if I worry, fret and loose sleep over it. 

While it has only been a week since my last blog post, I have been inspired to write and share more in hopes that in this journey toward redemption you, the reader, may also enjoy some benefit from the sharing of my stories and pondering  I thought the best place to begin today is just thinking about what story we tell. I wrote this pondering a couple of years ago. Hope you enjoy the reflection.

Whenever I am travelling or visiting a new place, inevitably I will run into a new person or two.  I am always interested in what story a person shares about his/her life when we first meet.  A while ago, my husband and I were out for a walk in a little neighborhood where we were staying on a “winter break”. 

Thinking about thinking.

Therefore, think on these things…take every thought captive…as a man or woman thinks, so is he or she.  There are so many places in God’s Word that we are instructed to pay attention to our thinking and now---as if we should be surprised—neuroscience confirms what the Bible has said all along.  How we think matters.  It matters a LOT!  

Scientists and research folks now agree that how we think determines how our brain functions.  How our brain functions determines how our body functions, how we process our emotions and how we live our lives.  We can determine the constitution of our health, our relationships and our life.  Dr. Caroline Leaf in “Switch on Your Brain;The Key to Peak Happiness,Thinking and Health", comments that current research affirms that what we think is even more powerful than our genetic disposition.