Why God Won't Let Us Worry
It is a fact.
Did you hear that? That wasn't actually me yelling at you, it was me yelling at myself! Because I must constantly remind myself, correct myself, and pull myself by the scruff of the neck back from the cliff of worrying!
I think I am genetically disposed. I come from a long line of worriers. We have it down to both an art and a science.
I often wonder why I am so prone to worrying , besides the whole genetically disposed excuse I mean. I think it is because when there is a difficult or dangerous or troublesome situation, and I have no control whatsoever and there is no physical action I could take whatsoever to affect the outcome, worrying is the one thing I CAN do. (Yes, yes, I could pray, I know, but that is not always my first response.)
To worry feels like I am not doing NOTHING (note to grammarians- that was an intentional double negative.) It feels like I am doing something- as if my upset stomach and lack of joy will bring change to the outcome.
Worry doesn't actually do nothing (yes, another double negative.) It does quite a few things like: raise my cortisol level which has lovely effects like weight gain, higher cholesterol, and less sleep. It causes digestive issues, lack of concentration on REAL things, muscle tension, and short term memory loss.
Oh yes, worrying does lots of things. But since every single one is negative and not one of them changes a situation and all of them are detrimental to my health.....maybe the light is beginning to glimmer as to why my Heavenly Father tells me to NOT worry.
It is just like me telling my kids to not eat too much sugar, or to not crossing the street before looking, or to not associate with the wrong friends, or to not text and drive. I don't tell them those things to hurt them. I tell them because I know the negative effects of those actions. And since I love them I don't want them to be hurt.
And God knows the effects on our bodies of worry- the bodies He designed to NOT be able to handle worry. Maybe He designed them that way to remind us to cut it out and to accentuate the fact that instead of worrying we need to have faith. He actually has this thing down so we have nothing to worry about. He knows our beginning and He knows our end. He loves us and our loved ones more than we could ever imagine. And even if the very, very worst possible imagining were to come true? Well, even then He would never leave us. He would never forsake us. He would never allow us out of His Hand.
So....No. More. Worrying.