From a Worrier to a Warrior

Renowned Christian businesswoman, Mary C. Crowley once quipped, " Every evening I turn my worries over to God. He's going to be up all night anyway. " Oh, that it would be so easy for the rest of us. One of the greatest weapons the enemy wields against the children of God is worry. It is parasitic in nature as it feeds off of the willing host. Worry becomes anxiety and anxiety breeds fear and fear can lead to panic. Worry may sound the more benign of these terms but it is a feeding ground for the enemy to plant more and more doubt in your heart against the knowledge of God. The dictionary defines a worrier as:

Someone who torments oneself with or suffers from disturbing thoughts; troubled; plagued.

The world minimizes this; referring to such people as "worry-warts." The definition however reveals the true nature of worrying. The person is troubled and plagued. They are suffering from self-inflicted torment. Remember the enemy only presents you with something to consider he cannot make you do anything. The considering itself is self-inflicted. It is only reinforced by the world system. The world constantly reinforces the need for therapy for your past, that your present is never good enough and the utter doubt of your future. The object is never for relief, only for continual worrying. The therapies of the world are geared to help you cope that is live with your problems. It is not geared for releasing them. That is the difference. The world wants you to learn to live with your problems while Jesus takes them from you:

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1Peter 5:7

Jesus does not say cast your cares on your psychiatrist. He does not say to medicate your cares away. He says to cast them upon Him. God understands how easily this world can weigh you down:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11: 28-30

The enemy is a harsh taskmaster and the yoke of the world is unforgiving. Take a good look around and see the weariness on the faces of those in this world. The sheer burden they carry. That is because they are worrying in their hearts about one or more areas the enemy yokes them to. They are yoked in worry to their past, their present or their future.

The worries of our past can be powerful. Maybe we have done some egregious wrong in our past, maybe a hidden sin issue, maybe a drug dependency. Maybe someone has done us considerable wrong in our past. Maybe a sexual offense that results in shame or feelings of not being worthy. Maybe we just woke up one day and found ten years have got behind us and we grieve the loss of time. Failed relationships, abusive relationships, no relationships. Whatever the cause the past can still be brutal to us in the present and prevent us from even considering a future. That is what the enemy desires. To have so wrapped up in our past that we cannot live for Christ in the present nor even consider the future He already has laid out for us. This however, is the promise for those who are in Christ:

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2Corinthians 5: 16-17

We are a new creation beloved. The old is gone! That haunting from your past is gone! That fear, shame, reproach is gone! Yet so many Christians still hold onto it. They cling to it. They can go up to the altar week after week and beg God to take it from them, only to walk back to their pew with it firmly in their hands and around their neck. It is not a more comfortable yoke. It is not an easier yoke. But it is a familiar yoke. We must get beyond the familiarity of the pain of our past and embrace the new creation in Christ we have become.

Satan also ensnares us with worrying about our present situations. In the world we now live in there is plenty to worry about. Disease, famine, war, the economy the list goes on and on. Media only focuses on the negative, playing up the basest examples of humanity for us to see every night on our local news. Politics are now but a means to divide one person against another. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It seems there is no escape from it, no peace within it but God:

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

But do we take heart? The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives within us but do we walk under that power and peace or do we reflect to our present circumstances? Are we excessively worried about the day to day minutia in this world? Jesus taught about worry:

Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Luke 12: 22-25

Here is the key. Worrying has no positive effect on your life. In the words of Jesus, it cannot add a single hour to your life. But the sad thing is that it certainly can take away an hour from your life. Have you ever spent time worrying about something? That is time you never get back and the outcome was not affected by your worrying. That was the point Christ was trying to make. God is in control. If we are not in control and worrying cannot fix anything why worry? But if we know God is in control, then the direction becomes clearer:

But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Luke 12: 31

What things? Anything you might be worrying about. If we focus on the problem, we will worry, which we know causes nothing positive. If we focus on the problem solver, we will have faith instead of worry, and by seeking Him first, all these things will be added unto us. Remember:

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the Lord not focusing on worrying about this life past, present, or future. And God does have a future for you beloved:

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Hope and future are already planned out for you. You are not an accident. You are a planned person in the design of Almighty God. How does He get you to that future? By working out your present situation:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

In all things. In your present medical situation? Yes in all things. In your current financial situation? Yes in all things. Even when I do not know where my kids are, where my career is going, and how my marriage will survive? Yes in all things. The enemy will use the future as this ominous unknown that you need to prepare for, worry about, and despair in. Nonsense! Will social security be there? God will. Will my 401K turn into a 201K God will provide. Will my health deteriorate as I get older God is my healer. Will my enemies catch up to me God is my banner. Whatever worries the enemy tries to plant in our heads; God has promises that prove the devil to be nothing but a liar. Your past has been paid for by the blood of Christ setting you free. Your present is being worked out for your good because you love God and are called according to His purpose. Your future is one of hope the hope that can only be found in Christ Jesus.

But how do we get to that place? That place of peace ruling in our hearts. That place of an unburdened yoke. It has to start with a transformation from a worrier into a warrior. The dictionary defines a warrior as:

A person engaged or experienced in warfare; soldier.

We are soldiers in the army of God. But our weapons are not of this world:

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2Corinthians 10: 3-5

Boiled down to its simplest form, those thoughts that the enemy uses against us to trap us in our worry are arguments and pretensions set up against the knowledge of God. When the devil reminds you of your past, you need to remind him of his future! Your past is paid, your present is protected and your future is promised. The image we see when we think of a warrior is one of physical strength but God wants spiritual strength, which is found through faith. The doctor's report came back negative again? I am going to believe in God. Turned down for another job? I am going to believe in God. The warrior in combat follows the instructions of his commander. The commander has the plan, not the soldier. Well, God is our Commander in Chief and the Bible is His plan. It would seem wise then that we study the plan if we expect to wrest the victory from the enemy. Too often we do not know the plan and hide it in our hearts. If we did then when the enemy presents a lie for us to consider, we will dismiss it because the plan reveals the lie. The argument is in opposition to the knowledge of God (the Bible) and therefore it must be brought into obedience with Christ. Lastly, the warrior serves the master. He does not act on his own. He does not freelance. He does not engage in a conversation with the enemy. That is why he is called the enemy! We serve the Master through prayer. We discover specific plans, strengthen our faith, and allow God to reveal Himself to us through an active prayer life. A true warrior is not on the horse he is on his knees.

Jesus had two friends who He visited one day. Martha was the worrier:

But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" Luke 10:40

Note the word "distracted" because that is what the enemy is trying to do when he gets you to worry. As long as you are worried about your situation then you are distracted from Jesus. As long as you are focused on yourself you cannot be focused on God. Her sister Mary on the other hand, was the warrior:

She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. Luke 10: 39

The warrior sits at the feet of the Lord. The warrior listens to what God has to say. The warrior is not distracted by the focus on the world around. God is the only focus. After Mary complained, Jesus reminds us all:

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10: 41-42

Martha was very upset and worried about many things, as we can be today. While Mary wanted to prepare a nice dinner it was not needed. While we may want to worry about failed relationships, our future careers, or our past failures it is not needed. Only one thing is needed according to Jesus and worry is not it. The one thing that is needed is what is better. It is the warrior mentality we need to overcome the worrier within us. It is sitting at the feet of Jesus...listening.

Reverend Anthony Wade May 11, 2010