Do you ever struggle with worry? Do you ever fret? I think we each do every now and then, am I right? We don’t want to and we don’t intend to, but worry can be a big distraction in our lives. It can snatch our attention from the here and now and put it on situations we have no control over. The distraction of worry is not our friend.
Corrie Ten Boom once said,
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.”
Remember that verse from Matthew 6:34? It says not to worry about tomorrow, and let tomorrow worry about itself. And I appreciate how The Message translation puts it, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” Amen and amen!
That translation says to give our attention to what God is doing right now (that’s living undistracted!), but when we worry, we can’t possibly do that. I can get caught up in worry. No, I don’t intend to and I don’t want to, but I can worry with the best of them. Maybe you can relate. And when I do, it distracts me from the moment I’m in and takes my focus off of what’s important.
I share a real-life example of how I worried regarding a text my daughter sent me when my husband and I were in Florida last month on vacation. This worry caused me to forget all I knew and made me feel physically ill.
And that’s what the distraction of worry does.
We discuss that more in detail in this episode, and we highlight a few Bible verses to that speaks straight to the distraction of worry. I also share two alarming statistics from a study at Penn State regarding what we worry about.
The distraction of worry is not God’s best for us.
Click on the player above to listen to the full 17-minute episode.
The distraction of worry can certainly grab us in ways maybe other distractions don’t, but we don’t have to give in to it. Free yourself from the burden of this distraction of worry. I’m doing this right along with you, friend. Thank you for journeying alongside of me. I’m grateful for you today. God bless you!
Links in this episode:
Matthew 6:34 MSG
How Worry Affects the Body
Definition of worry
Psalm 37:8b TLB
Luke 12:22-26 VOICE
Philippians 4:6-7 MSG
William James quote
Penn State study on worries
Access the free printable Helpful Verses About Worry on my Free Resources page.
Encouragement for Real Life Community
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Amen. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
God bless you, Debra. You are welcome!