A Prescription for Worry Devotional Guide
Monday: Read Luke 8:22-25. When Jesus asked, “Where is your faith?” I don’t think he was suggesting that if the disciples had enough faith, they could have stopped the storm. I believe he was asking, “Did you really think you would drown with me in the boat? Did you really think I would let you perish! Haven’t you learned anything from me?!” I like this definition of faith: “Faith is simple trust that our lives are in his hands, that he is always in our boat, and that he will never abandon us.” Have you ever heard faith described in this way? Do you find it helpful?
Tuesday: Read Matthew 6:25-34. Fears are like bullies in the school yard. Once we stand up to them, they fold and go away. Most people forget this. I know people whose fears grow bigger because they will not face them. They deny them or cover them up, thinking they will just go away, but most fears just don’t go away. What we must do is stand up to our fears and face them. Once we do this our fears become more manageable. Today, write down all of your fears. Just get them down on paper. There is something about getting things down on paper that makes them more manageable. Next, write above all of the things you fear: Most of these things will never happen! It’s true! Worrying is a waste of time because most of what we worry about never comes to pass. Can you think of something in your life that was useless worry?
Wednesday: Read Philippians 4:6. The most common advice I give to people who are paralyzed by worry is for them to spend the next seven days praying to God about their worries. I ask them to spend ten minutes with God each day for a week, giving God their fears. Not once has someone come back to me and said, “It didn’t work!” If you were to give to God a list of your worries today, what would they be?
Thursday: Read Joshua 1:9. J. Arthur Rank, an English executive, decided to do all of his worrying one day a week. He chose Wednesdays. When anything happened that gave him anxiety, he would write it down and put it in his worry box and forget about it until next Wednesday. The interesting thing was that on the following Wednesday when he opened his worry box, he found that most of the things that had disturbed him the past six days were already settled. It would have been useless to have worried about them. The lesson in Rank’s story is this: Fix what we can control; give God what we can’t control. What are some things you are worried about today that you can do something about?
Friday: Read Psalm 55:2. Find a shoebox. Tape the lid on, and then cut a little hole in it. Call it your “worry box.” Whenever you feel tempted to worry, write your worry on a piece of paper and drop it in the box. You can say, “Lord, this is my concern, and it has the potential to become a worry. You have told me not to worry, so here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to put it in my worry box and let you take responsibility for it. Anything that I put in this box will be there because I can’t handle it. Once it’s in the box, I’m going to trust you to handle it for me, Lord.” What would you put in your “worry box” today?