Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear? For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all. But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.
The word worry is defined as a feeling of uneasiness or a troubled, anxious, distressed, and concerned mind. Another definition I have heard for worry is "to torment oneself with disturbing thoughts." When I heard the last definition, I immediately decided that I am smart enough to know better than to sit around tormenting myself! I believe the enemy uses worry and anxiety to distract us from the call of God on our lives.
Sadly, far too many people may actually be addicted to worrying. I have a friend who worries beyond all reason. He admits that his mother taught him to worry. He doesn't remember a time in his entire life when his mother wasn't worried about something that had happened, was happening, or was about to happen. I have to admit that I was once just like this. If I didn't have something to worry about, I worried about someone else's problems.
I didn't know what it meant to live in peace. I am convinced that it is absolutely impossible to worry and to live in peace at the same time. Yet I often see people trying to do both.
They've gotten so used to worrying that they apply this condition to almost every function of their lives. For some people, it can be something as simple as fretting over getting to a meeting on time. For others, it can mean being nervous about meeting someone for the first time or the discomfort of going for a job interview. I hear the word worry used all the time.
What if we were to use the word torment? If we think of worry as satanic torment or mental torture, we get closer to the biblical idea. Think of agony and suffering as part of torment. Isn't that exactly how Satan works? Of course, he works at not letting us identify him as the source.
It's easier for him to torment us if we blame our neighbors, children, parents, or coworkers. "If they would just leave me alone and give me peace," we say. As long as we see the agitation coming from someone else or a situation we can't do anything about, we live in torment. That's when the devil preys on us and makes it even worse.
The apostle John wrote about love, saying that if we truly love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. But notice this: And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him. . . . There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete perfection] (1 John 4:16, 18, AMPC).
These are all strong words, and I'm quoting them for a reason. If the devil can convince you that worry is a small thing, you don't take it too seriously. "Oh, everybody worries a little," you say, brushing it off.
No, not everyone worries. Worry is a tool of the devil, so it's not something that you, as a Christian, need to tolerate. Worry is nothing but a satanic attack on your mind. It does not accomplish any good thing.
More often than not, there is nothing you can do about the things that concern you. They're beyond your control. You can worry about your future or your children's marriages or whether your company will close and lay you off. But there's nothing you can do in the natural about these things. It is a far better plan to spend the time and energy you would spend worrying on reminding yourself of God's promise: You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind . . . is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You . . . (Isaiah 26:3, AMPC).
A faith-filled missionary family in Africa dealt with the issue of worry in a very creative way. Whenever anyone started to worry about anything, the parents and their three children would go to the front door and each of them would make a strong kicking movement and say aloud, "Devil, get out of our house. We belong to God, and we don't have to let you come inside." I like that. Use the authority over the enemy that God gave you. Start today!
Prayer of the Day: Father God, please forgive me for allowing the devil to torment me in any way—and especially for tolerating his tricks in small worries and anxieties. In the name of Jesus, I ask You to enable me to kick him and his tricks out of my life, amen.
