Overthinking Part 2 : Fretting and Worry

[Riverwalker]

Unlike any other religion in the world, Christianity is unique in that the reward of eternal life with God is front loaded.  When you come to Jesus and take Him as your Lord and give Him your heart, you are made new, you are saved. There is no works, nothing that needs to be earned, nothing to achieve, because you already have it. Salvation.

And there is a very good reason for this.  God does not want you focusing on getting saved, but rather on being saved

He also does not want us to be worried over life. What will happen, what will become of us, or any worry of fret that would take us away from our ultimate God given goal...to become mature, fulfilled Christians.

Matthew 6 is a lovely chapter, with may good truths and our model prayer, the Lord's prayer, which in itself is a model of simplicity.  but it ends with the following passage

Matthew 6:

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one [j]cubit to his [k]stature?

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not [l]arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

 

One of my favorite sayings has always been "Don't sweat the small stuff, and its all small stuff"  God has it hand, as the bible says

2nd Peter 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue

So have faith that God will take care of what you need. Don't stress over it, but instead life the live He has given you. and be blessed.

[Guest clancy]

That all takes time...all of that you have described is part of growing as a Christian....slowly handing everything over to God....for me anyway...

Worry, that was a hard one to give to God, many more also, we never stop growing in Christ..?

[BibleStudent100]

1 hour ago, Riverwalker said:

He also does not want us to be worried over life. What will happen, what will become of us, or any worry of fret that would take us away from our ultimate God given goal...to become mature, fulfilled Christians.

One of my favorite sayings has always been "Don't sweat the small stuff, and its all small stuff"  God has it hand, as the bible says

2nd Peter 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue

So have faith that God will take care of what you need. Don't stress over it, but instead life the live He has given you. and be blessed.

Hi Riverwalker, I enjoyed your reminders about how to live a life relatively free of anxiety.  Of course, Jesus knew that imperfect humans are naturally concerned about obtaining basic necessities.  As many have observed, "The future of reality is seldom as bad as the future of our fears.” Humbly heeding the Bible’s advice to keep our priorities in clear focus and to live one day at a time can help us to avoid undue anxiety.—1 Peter 5:6, 7.  As one of my aunts used to say, "will this problem matter in five years; if not, then let it go."  I have tried to follow this sage advice.
 

[R. Hartono]

Worry n weary are installed in the heart of human ever since they fell into sins. As they no longer hv power over weather, animals, poisonous plants n sickness of viruses. And the plant even grew thorns.

Only those that died in Faith actually no longer worry.

 

[Riverwalker]

17 hours ago, BibleStudent100 said:

Hi Riverwalker, I enjoyed your reminders about how to live a life relatively free of anxiety.  Of course, Jesus knew that imperfect humans are naturally concerned about obtaining basic necessities.  As many have observed, "The future of reality is seldom as bad as the future of our fears.” Humbly heeding the Bible’s advice to keep our priorities in clear focus and to live one day at a time can help us to avoid undue anxiety.—1 Peter 5:6, 7.  As one of my aunts used to say, "will this problem matter in five years; if not, then let it go."  I have tried to follow this sage advice.
 

And when anxiety comes as it always does, We go to God.   We cannot let Anxiety get a foothold, for it is like rust it will grow and degrade our substance

Phil 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

[missmuffet]

There are a number of mental illnesses that cause anxiety. As Christians we have Jesus Christ to help us get through those difficult times. We take our worries and anxiety to Christ. God does know our mind better than we do. We ask God to put His healing hand on our mental problems and help us get through those times of worry. God is the ultimate psychologist. Give all of what is troubling you to Him. 

[Who me]

16 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

There are a number of mental illnesses that cause anxiety. As Christians we have Jesus Christ to help us get through those difficult times. We take our worries and anxiety to Christ. God does know our mind better than we do. We ask God to put His healing hand on our mental problems and help us get through those times of worry. God is the ultimate psychologist. Give all of what is troubling you to Him. 

 

I don't know who said it but there is a quote.

 

                                            " Trust God and keep your gunpowder dry! "

 

In regard to illness,take it to God, but also see your doctor.

Christians should give the same advice to someone with a suspect broken led as they would to someone with suspected mental illness.

Pray, but get to your doctor.

[Arrabon]

8 hours ago, Riverwalker said:

but in everything by prayer and supplication

@Riverwalker

Phil. 4:6-7 is one of my favorite grouping of verses, as I deal with PTSD and other forms of anxiety, and am on medication for the rest of my life, as I age some things are just getting harder to handle - child abuse.

I love the tiny word "BUT" in the portion of scripture I quoted above, because it means, BUT if you can't "be anxious for nothing", my following words will give you "hope" and "peace", and I will be with you while you "DO STRUGGLE" with anxiety you have no control over.

What a God, to be so comforting and understanding, that some of us have no control over unexpected triggers that can just debilitate some of us out of nowhere, because we aren't aware of many of our triggers or situations that will completely incapacitate us, sometimes for many following days.

Having genetic mental health issues, and mental health issues from abuse, are  double issues of mental health, such as a chemical imbalance in my brain, being bi-polar, PTSD, panic attacks, anxiety attacks, hyper-ventilation, acid reflux and ulcers as a result of my mental health issues.

And yet with all of that, God has given me many blessings of caring about people, and many other gifts and talents to bless others with, even with my own trials  and difficulties of life that many believers have.

A thorn in the flesh we must endure, as Paul did his and was still so effective for the kingdom.

Paul's suffering and serving is such a great example for all of us in the same type situation, and gives us the determination and courage to "STAY THE COARSE."

Arrabon

Edited June 25, 2021 by Arrabon

[Michael37]

On 6/25/2021 at 6:57 AM, Riverwalker said:

He also does not want us to be worried over life. What will happen, what will become of us, or any worry of fret that would take us away from our ultimate God given goal...to become mature, fulfilled Christians.

Now that we're discussing the problem of Overthinking, I'm wondering if Underthinking should be addressed.

[missmuffet]

On 6/24/2021 at 11:57 AM, Riverwalker said:

Unlike any other religion in the world, Christianity is unique in that the reward of eternal life with God is front loaded.  When you come to Jesus and take Him as your Lord and give Him your heart, you are made new, you are saved. There is no works, nothing that needs to be earned, nothing to achieve, because you already have it. Salvation.

And there is a very good reason for this.  God does not want you focusing on getting saved, but rather on being saved

He also does not want us to be worried over life. What will happen, what will become of us, or any worry of fret that would take us away from our ultimate God given goal...to become mature, fulfilled Christians.

Matthew 6 is a lovely chapter, with may good truths and our model prayer, the Lord's prayer, which in itself is a model of simplicity.  but it ends with the following passage

Matthew 6:

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one [j]cubit to his [k]stature?

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not [l]arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

 

One of my favorite sayings has always been "Don't sweat the small stuff, and its all small stuff"  God has it hand, as the bible says

2nd Peter 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue

So have faith that God will take care of what you need. Don't stress over it, but instead life the live He has given you. and be blessed.

Well said and thank you for the reminder that we need to put God in control and have faith.