A few weeks ago I led a women’s workshop on anxiety and worry, and I was profoundly moved by the responses around the room to the subject matter. There was not a single person there who does not struggle with anxiety in some form. Several women approached me during the breaks and said that they feel overwhelmed with worry about what is happening in our country. Does that describe you, too?

Our worries typically center around family, security, finances, health, self-esteem, and other personal issues. What do you worry about the most?

Today we will look at the beautiful story of Joshua, who provides an antidote to worry for us this morning.

Joshua 1:8

“Never stop reading The Book of the Law he gave you. Day and night you must think about what it says. If you obey it completely, you and Israel will be able to take this land.”

You remember that Joshua was the successor to Moses. The Israelites had escaped from Egypt and Moses sent out twelve spies to check out the land. Ten came back and spread fear and anxiety about the “giants” they saw. But Joshua and Caleb came back with calm reports of a land filled with milk and honey. So Joshua was chosen to lead the people after Moses died, and he took the nation of Israel into the Promised Land. There were many battles to be fought, rivers to cross, hardship and hunger to endure … not to mention that the people had already proven themselves to be a bunch of whiners and complainers. But Joshua understood that God would be with them all the way and he could count on God to give them everything they needed.

So looking at that passage again, we can see three things that we can do when worry overcomes us:

READ GOD’S WORD

THINK AND MEDITATE 

OBEY

So the way we can use this as a weapon in the battle against worry is this: Let’s say your morning worry is about traffic, car accidents, personal safety, or concern for your family’. You might find that it is while driving your car that your worries begin to take you over and you fall prey to WHATIFITIS….what if this happens, what if I’m late, what if that car suddenly stops in front of me, what if my son gets in an accident on his way to work, what if my child gets hit by a car getting off the school bus, what if I didn’t latch the baby’s car seat correctly, etc.

So now, let’s imagine you schedule a mere five minutes extra in your morning routine. In fact, you don’t need five extra minutes, just keep your devotional resource available in the bathroom. Most of us spend more than five minutes in there getting ready for the morning. You may be reading this in the bathroom today as you are brushing your teeth and preparing for the day. Good on you!

So, you read a five minute devotional with a bible verse in it. You get in your car. Instead of going through your Worry Loop, you force your mind to think of nothing else but the verse and the devotional that you read first thing. You feel God urging you in some way to respond to the passage. You obey that nudge and think of ways to live that out today. Read, think about it, and obey.

It is in the obey part that we turn our worry into action. When you meditate on Scripture first thing in the morning, you can use it to beat back the worry and focus on what God is calling you to do. Is the Holy Spirit prompting you to call and check on a friend? Are you being directed to stop at the grocery store for donations to your local food pantry? Do you need to write a quick text or email to offer a word of encouragement to someone who is struggling? Based on the Scripture you read, what are you supposed to do today?

Obeying the Word and the prompting of the Holy Spirit is a fine way to keep worry at bay. Taking a proactive stand and living out that Scripture will re-focus your thoughts on what God is doing in your midst, with you as his vessel.

Are you worried today? Go and do something about it.

No Worries Here by Kathy Schumacher