Bait Shop Wall 8 – Find a Hole in the Net of Worry
Worry is one of those things that we all get caught up with. It is more than just a hook. This is the whole net that can catch us and make us end up on the bait shop wall. I think it is a net because it can trap us in so many ways. Worry is not picky nor is it choosey. Whatever it can get us to worry about will make it happy. We can worry about anything, the price of gas, what the kids are doing, our jobs, our health, what we will do tomorrow. Worry is just that, a thing that can make today unbearable and tomorrow a dark and scary place. If worry has this power of the net we need to find a hole to escape the net. So why don’t we swim around and see if we can’t find a hole to escape worries hold on our hearts.
There is a Promise That Can be Hard to Trust at Times
Before Jesus was crucified He had dinner with his friends and talked to them about the things that were going to happen. He told them it was going to be tough on them and him. In the midst of facing the greatest battle he wanted to give his friends some words to hold to. To help them not worry about the future. In John 14:27 Jesus tells his friends: “I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give. It isn’t like the peace that this world can give. So don’t be worried or afraid.” He wants them to understand that no matter what we face we can find peace in this world. He wanted them to understand that trouble is only doubled when we sit around and worry about things that could never happen or are going to happen no matter what we do with them.
It is not a lay down and take it kind of faith, but a faith that rests in knowing that God is working on our behalf in ways that we may never see or understand. It is this promise that he will see us through whatever we go through in this life. After all worry has never do any of us any good at all. It just adds a weight to our burden that is not intended to be ours to carry.
Realize That Worry & Fear Make Tomorrow Worse
Jesus gives us a challenge about life. In Matthew 6:34 it says, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” When we begin to realize that worry makes today worse as well as adds dread to tomorrow. Today has enough trouble to keep us jumping and guessing what we need to do to survive. When we add what “might happen” to today’s menu that is a meal we will never be able to eat. Today has enough challenge without adding the worst guess on tomorrow’s problems. When we allow tomorrow crash today, then it piles on and soon we have given up weeks, months and sometimes years to worrying about things that just do not really matter. So concentrate on today and leave tomorrow to tomorrow.
The Biggest Net We Will Ever Face is in Our Own Head
Paul gave us some advice in Philippians about worry as he waited for the executioner to come and end his life. Philippians 4:6 – 8 says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Thank about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Paul lays out a few things we can do instead of worry:
Pray and leave your worry with God
Rest in God’s peace for your heart
Change the way you think
Our Thinking Changes Everything
The way we think determines what will happen. If we turn our minds and hearts towards this little list Paul gave us we can change our entire lives:
Things that are true not imagined
Honorable and not disgraceful
Right not wrong
Pure and not shady
Lovely and not ugly
Admirable and not hidden
Excellent and praiseworthy
If we check our thinking by these things we will be amazed at how our lives will change. It is not superficial positive thinking, but instead thinking about things we can control in a positive way. When we face today with a positive mindset it can change the entire way life works. That net shrinks and is less effective when we swim with our hearts in the right direction.
The net of worry can catch us and still the joy we can experience today. When we realize that the net is there waiting for us in every moment of our lives we open our eyes to see it. When we see that worry is there and coming for us, we can avoid the net and stay positive about not only today, but tomorrow. I know it seems easy to miss the net, but we get caught in it so easily that it can ruin all the good that we have in our lives.
It doesn’t matter if we get caught by a hook, net or hands we must decide to make some tough choices to make sure we do not end up on that bait shop wall. My prayer for us is that we make a tough choice that will change our future and our present. Swim with your eyes open and remember not everything that shines is good for you, nor is every worm worth biting.