I Quit Worrying!

We all battle with worry to one degree or another.

Worry is unhealthy ~ in so many ways.

I am not going to rehash too much on what has been already been said about the ill effects of chronic worry.

It can negatively affect your health mentally, spiritually and physically. It is a waste of time and steals from today’s happiness and joy. It robs your faith of any power by undermining your trust in God. In short, worry is a bad habit that needs to be avoided.

There is a better way to live.

It is not just a few people who battle it. Everyone struggles.

It is not a modern struggle. It an ancient battle.

Jesus talked of worry as recorded in Matthew’s gospel:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat? ’ or ‘What shall we drink? ’ or ‘What shall we wear? ’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:25-34 NIV)

In summary, He says it is time to trust the Father and quit worrying!

Worry accomplishes nothing.

“Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but it gets you nowhere.”

Worry undermines the truth that you matter to God.

If God will take care of this little woodpecker – He will take care of you.

“Well, if I don’t worry what am I to do?”

Valid question.

Scripture gives some direction …

“Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks.Then God’s peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-8 GW)

~ choose prayer instead of anxious care.
~ choose words of trust and thanks instead of words of fret and anxiety.
~ choose the peace of Christ as your heart’s guard.

In light of the above I’ve prayed and considered and …

Though it won’t be easy, and I’ll probably struggle …

I have made a decision …

I Quit Worrying!

How about you? Will you join me?

I Quit Making Excuses!

Most of us are guilty of making excuses.

It’s something we have learned from childhood.

Excuses as to why we didn’t put our toys away. Excuses for incomplete homework.

The thing is – we are still making excuses.

Excuses as to why we do not move forward in life. Excuses for why we can’t, won’t or shouldn’t. Excuses on top of excuses and then excuses for making excuses … maybe you can identify with this 😉

Now, Paul the Appstle was a man who learned how to quit making excuses.

Phil 3:12-16 MSG
I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.

Let’s quit making excuses and reach for the goal …

1. We need to remember that God isn’t’ finished yet.

There is no need to get discouraged. We may not be where we want to be but we are on the way to where God wants us to be. We are on a journey; sometimes the path goes through low and dark place and sometimes the road is paved and scenic. The fact is we ought to trust the one who is leading and realize that He isn’t finished with us yet. (Philippians 1:6) He will get us to the proper destination and the proper time.

2. We need to let go of the past.

When Paul said that he was forgetting the past he meant that he was letting it go. He didn’t mean that his memory was wiped clean of it. He just meant that he wasn’t going to fret over it anymore or waste anymore energy there.

It’s time to let the past go.
It’s time to let the past be in the past.
It’s time to embrace the lessons learned and apply them as we move forward.
It’s time to allow the past to be a memory not allow it to be a dwelling place.

3. We need to look forward to the future.

If we continually look behind us we rob ourselves of the potential God put within.
Lot’s wife never reached her potential because she looked back on the life she had instead of looking forward to the new life she could have had. (Genesis 19:23-29)

There is a reason that our vehicles have a big windshield and a small rear view mirror. I believe the main reason is because what’s happened in the past is not near as important as the potential of the future.

It is time to quit making excuses!

Let’s let go of the excuses and move forward.

How about it …are you ready to quit?

I QUIT!

It can be difficult to quit something – anything.

This year I decided to quit some things.

It’s a little scary because I have a poor history of quitting. I have tried quitting and then failed at quitting. I have failed at quitting so many times I quit quitting.

But this year is going to be different.

It’s time to start quitting again.

I remember trying to quit smoking & it took several failed attempts but I did quit successfully over 18 years ago. One of the best things I ever did …

There are other things that I wish to quit this year. Over the next few blog posts I hope to expand on some of these these I plan to quit.

This year I am going to be a quitter & I’d like to invite you to join me.

It’s time to quit …

What are some of the things you would like to quit?