Perhaps you can feel it creeping up too. The long-dreaded exams are slowly approaching kind of like the shark in Jaws or a Dentist wielding a drill. Perhaps you don't have exams to worry about soon but we all face circumstances which cause us to worry. In Matthew 6:23 Christ has commanded us "Do not worry" and therefore worry is a sin. Worry is much more than concern, it is when our sinful nature mutates righteous concern into a destructive force which chokes us and often feels like it is ripping us apart. But how can we avoid worrying? We can't excuse it by "It's just my personality" because of Jesus' command and is something we must consider as it is a sin many of us struggle with. As Christians we battle continually with our sin and as in any battle the key is preparation, to defeat worry we must be ready.
To be victorious in this battle worry we must look beyond the individual causes of our worry to the root problem. All worry is caused by our pride. We worry because we cannot control the future and cannot determine whether our preferable version of events will occur. This is undeniably sinful pride raising its head because when we worry we are saying to God "I know what should happen and I know better than you". The only way we can deal with worry is to put our pride to death. When writing about humility Paul points us to Christ's example who "made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians ch2:7-8) When we humble ourselves our worries fade away as we realise we cannot control everything but leave the future safely in God's hands, relying on the promises he has given us.
""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
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