Worry and Fear

Edward T. Welch has done it again. I have benefited greatly from his previous writings and look forward to reading this too! It is titled Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest. C.J. Mahaney has written two seperate reviews of it found here and here. Tim Challies has written a longer and perhaps a bit more helpful review here (by the way, he admits this is his first, but certainly not last time, he read Welch). Here are some excerpts from the book:

"At this point, we know that worry and fear are more about us than about the things outside us. They reveal what is valuable to us, and what is valuable to us in turn reveals our kingdom allegiances. We also know that God is patient and compassionate with us, and he gives grace upon grace. Though alert to our divided allegiances, he persists in calling us away from fear and worry, persuades us of the beauty of the kingdom, and gives more than we can imagine."

"Like most writing projects, this book is aimed squarely at myself. Although I can be angry or melancholy, I am a fear specialist. In this I have found that I am not alone. Not everyone is a fear specialist, but there is no doubt that every single person who ever lived is personally familiar with fear. It is an inescapable feature of earthly life. To deny it is…well…to deny it."

Worry Wart

I found this on the Internet as a sermon illustration for "worry." I got a good laugh out of it and so I thought I would share it.

How you can tell when it's going to be a rotten day:

You wake up face down on the pavement.
You see a "60 Minutes" news team waiting in your office.
Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles.
You turn on the news and they're showing emergency routes out of the city.
Your twin sister forgot your birthday.
Your car horn goes off accidentally and remains stuck as you follow a group of Hell's Angels on the freeway. Your boss tells you not to bother to take off your coat. The bird singing outside your window is a buzzard. You wake up and your braces are locked together. You call your answering service and they tell you it's none of your business.
Your income tax check bounces. You put both contact lenses in the same eye. Your wife says, "Good morning, Bill", and your name is George.

Source Unknown.

Worry, of course, is no laughing matter because we usually worry about nothing. Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but you don't get anywhere. Jesus Christ taught a lot about worry, positive and negative. One should read Matthew 6:19-35 to see what he said!