Is Worry Consuming You?

I don’t want to be consumed by worry anymore! I’ve found that focusing on God’s encouraging promises can help.

So many times in my life I have found myself submerged to the point of drowning in deep worries. It bears asking, How much time have I wasted in such “worry moments”?

This leads me to another question: Does worry produce anything good? Or does it just produce more worry?

There are so many people like me who find themselves worrying about so many things in their lives: their jobs, the traffic, the weather, their health, how safe their food is, war, germs—and the list could go on. We become overwhelmed, and worry can consume us.

A scripture full of promise

In Lamentations 3:22-23 we are told, “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (New International Version throughout).

Wow! This passage, like so many passages in God’s Word, is a scripture full of promise.

Like a smoldering ember

Have you ever watched a fire? Sometimes I sit and watch our woodstove burn and think about how interesting fire is. One little ember can smolder, ever so quietly, until it ignites and burns up everything.

Worry can be much like that smoldering ember, and it can eventually take hold of us. It can consume us to the point of paralyzing our life.

Loosen the hold of consuming worry. Each day we need to reach out and rediscover the many promises that are given to us in God’s Word.

Trust in God (Psalm 56:3-4) and do not let worry consume your day and make your heart anxious (Proverbs 12:25).

Next time

Next time I worry, I am going to remind myself of Lamentations 3:22-23, strive to take my worry to God and remember: “Great is your faithfulness.”

For more encouraging scriptures, see “Encouraging Bible Verses” and for more about faith, see the section of the Life, Hope & Truth website on “Faith: Believing and Pleasing God.”

Vicki Willoughby and her husband of 40 years, Jack, live in northwest Arkansas where they attend the Springdale congregation of Church of God, a Worldwide Association.