Habit Forming

~~~ 2 Chronicles 24:17-15 ~~~ Psalm 89 ~~~ Matthew 6:24-34 ~~~

...Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.

Sufficient for a day is its own evil.

It is easy to read these words and easy to type them in this post, 

but the reality is often something different.

Worry is not something you choose to do.

I think worry is more often a habit that you find yourself trapped inside.

I have written here in this blog about worry before.

It is a common theme in each of our lives.

Even when we try not to engage consciously

 in the loop of worry, it happens.

All of a sudden you realize 

that you have been operating under the influence of worry.

It is like a disease; it begins with large things 

which happen only occasionally in your life

 and before you know it you find yourself 

worrying about every little thing.

You find yourself worrying about things that do not even matter.

Worry becomes the pattern...the norm for your life...

until one day you decide to end it.

One day you finally 'get it'.

God is the reason you have been worrying.

God is the reason because you have not been able

 to trust in his care for you.

You cannot believe that he cares for you

 more than you even care for yourself.

Worry has never delayed the arrival of tomorrow.

But worry has made today miserable.

Worry has ruined the present.

Too many times we worry about things that are not even real.

We worry about what might happen

 sometime in the future.

We spend time creating the entire scenario

 to fool ourselves into believing our worry is justified.

And too many times it is successful.

How can I write about this?

I have done this to myself...I have let worry rob my peace.

I am trying to trust more often than not.

I am trying to let God be in charge of tomorrow.

I am trying to think of what is good about now.

If we can focus more energy 

on the present we will have less time 

and energy to use on worry.

Worry always brings negative emotions to the forefront.

Worry is never about the good things that happen.

We never say to ourselves...'What if I never get cancer?' 

Break the Habit.

Get out of the cycle.

One way to stop the worry habit is to set aside a specific time

 when you allow yourself to worry, maybe only thirty minutes each day.

If the urge to worry comes up during the day tell yourself

 you will worry about that at __ time.

Replace your worry with a positive thought or experience.

Worry today will not solve a problem that

 'might' happen tomorrow.

Put God in the middle of your worry 

and see if things don't get better.

Hand over your worries to God. He can sort them out.

He can turn all things into good, leaving 

nothing left to worry about.

Trust in God and put your worries to rest.

He will give you the blessing you need at the moment.

~~~Peace~~~