That is why the LORD tells us Take No Thought for tomorrow!
Trust The LORD in All things!
He is Trustworthy and will Never forsake His Own!
Mat 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Mat 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God..
Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
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| The Worry Tree |
Some grasses may grow under it but many other plants shrivel and die.
Something in many lives corresponds to the black walnut tree.
In its baneful influence, the godly life cannot develop.
This noxious tree grows in the land of unbelief.
It is found nowhere else.
It is the worry tree.
Many lives are cursed with this tree.
It is one of their most prominent characteristics.
It spreads its shadow over everything.
It shuts out the sunlight.
It poisons the soil.
It draws up into itself the resources of the soul as a natural tree draws water from the soil, leaving spiritual faculties and powers parched and impoverished...
It prevents their proper development and fruition.
Worry is one of the worst things that can come into a life...
Perhaps only sin is worse; worry may even become sinful.
It is a form of fear.
Fear, worry, anxiety, foreboding...are all the same in effect and will all be treated together here.
The worry tree does not grow in the land of faith.
But in the land of unbelief and questioning...
It spreads its great roots of doubt deeply into the soil.
The results of worry are too numerous to be recounted in full.
One result is that wherever worry is given place, it stops the song of joy.
We cannot be glad, when we worry.
We cannot be free and happy.
The moment we worry...then peace, joy, satisfaction, comfort, all vanish.
The sun goes behind a cloud. A chill wind blows.
Many people make themselves utterly wretched through worry.
Its effects are not merely spiritual.
The whole being is poisoned by it.
Perhaps it would be well to consider some of the effects worry produces.
If we know those effects then it may help us to avoid their causes.
We note first, the physical effects...
Certain glands that control the bodily functions are excited to action by fear.
They secrete a powerful substance that is poured into the blood stream and produces immediate effects.
It is this that enables one to run faster when danger threatens, or to expend greater energy than at any other time.
A good purpose is served by these glands...but when they are constantly over-stimulated by fear, worry, anxiety, or any other emotion--then they produce too great an effect upon the nerves.
This tends to make one nervous, and nervousness in turn reacts to produce fear and worry.
This action and reaction continued, repeated over and over, breaks down the nerves.
A great many nervous people are what they are, simply because they have given way to worry.
It upsets the whole course of nature.
Many physical disorders are the direct result of worry.
A few quotations from medical authorities may help to make this plain...
Doctor McCoy says, "The mind can have a powerfully stimulating effect toward either health or disease."
When the mind is properly used and controlled--then health may be maintained under many adverse conditions...
But...when the mind is torn by conflicting, destructive emotion...then it kills the very cells it is supposed to guard over and control.
Again he says, "You must realize how important the mind is as a factor in the production of many chronic disorders."
Sometimes this process is so insidious as to be unrecognized except by the closest attention of a skilled diagnostician.
In my practice I have seen a number of cases of paralysis which were induced by fear.
Although these patients had been to many different doctors and undergone many different kinds of treatments, they were not cured until this fear factor was recognized, and then the cure took place almost instantly."
Doctor Copeland, once health commissioner of New York City, says, "Worry has a pronounced effect upon the organisms."
The digestion is upset because the nerves controlling the circulation and muscular structures are 'jumpy' and disturbed in function.
The intestinal action is disturbed...
The brain and nervous system are upset...
The glands operate irregularly...
The whole system is deranged...
Good teeth, as indeed good eyes and ears and heart and blood vessels and liver and kidneys--are dependent on lack of worry and plenty of restful sleep.
Worry is deadly to vigor and usefulness.
A whole book of this sort of quotations could easily be selected...
Dr. G.H. McIntosh says, "If men could wipe out all fear from their minds...then nine-tenths of them would be free from sickness."
Henry Ward Beecher said, "It is not work that kills men--it is worry!"
Worry is rust upon the blade.
The mental effect of worry and fear, is equally as great as the physical effect.
Through worry people often work themselves up into a sort of mental fever so that their nerves "go to pieces."
When we worry, the mind cannot think clearly...
Minor difficulties seem out of proportion...
They do not seem natural--but appear altogether different from what they do when the mind is in a normal condition.
Sometimes worry produces great mental distress...
Sometimes it partly or entirely unfits one for work.
Have you not heard people say, "I am so upset I just cannot do anything!"
This mental condition reacts upon the body...
The physical effects of worry react upon the mind; and we have a harmful set of actions and reactions set up, destructive alike to mind and body.
An agitated state of the mind, affects the brain and tissues....
The poison created in the body through fear and worry, reacts upon the brain tissues and the mind becomes still more troubled.
These things are not imaginary.
They are being suffered by thousands of individuals.
People get up in the morning tired out.
They have no energy.
They have to drive themselves.
This is one common effect of worry.
Another common result of worry is lack of mental control, so that the mind cannot concentrate on anything.
Worry also has a spiritual effect...
It destroys faith.
In fact, faith and worry are mutually destructive...
Faith will destroy worry and Worry will destroy faith.
So whichever is given ascendancy, will destroy the other...
Worry stimulates doubts.
The more we worry the more we doubt.
We have heard people talk about blind faith...
Faith is not nearly so blind as doubt.
Doubt cannot see favorable circumstances...
It sees everything in an unfavorable light, and magnifies it.
There may be ever so many favorable elements in a situation but doubt sees none of them.
Worry sees none of them.
Worry brings gloom and discouragement...
It makes one moody, forgetful of God's goodness and mercy and helpfulness.
In fact, worry shuts God out of the picture.
It causes us to forget him or makes us doubt him.
Under the influence of worry, we draw the most gloomy mental pictures.
We clothe everything in somber shades.
Worry also prevents us from exercising our abilities.
With worry, there is a great troop of evils...
They cluster around it and add to its damaging influence.
Worry is always evil.
It never serves any good purpose.
It never aids us in accomplishing anything.
It never makes anything easier.
It has nothing to recommend it.
More than that, worry is never necessary.
Mark well that statement.
It is a positive truth. Worry is never necessary.
First, worry never can help us.
It can never make things easier or better.
It never did any good.
It never cured any trouble.
Second, we do not have to worry...
There is always a better way.
We shall attempt to point out that way later.
Worry is altogether folly.
It not merely does no good--it always makes matters worse.
It weakens every good thing.
It strengthens every bad thing.
Worry is a noxious tree and it bears poisonous fruits.
Have you one of these poisonous worry trees?
You must rid yourself of it before you can sing the glad songs of rejoicing that come from a free soul.
One of the secrets of the singing heart, is the remedy for worry.
~Charles Naylor~
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| FRUITS Of The Worry Tree |
Everything has some method of protection.
Even the plants have "defense mechanisms."
Animals
have shells, teeth, sharp claws, or are swift of foot
or wing. Some of them produce noxious odors.
Some of them are unpleasant to the taste. The octopus secretes an inky fluid with which to color the water.
Some animals have great skill in hiding themselves. Some have electric defenses. Some are covered with prickles.
Man has a natural instinct of self-preservation. He will run or fight or hide himself...or use other methods of defense.
Some of them are unpleasant to the taste. The octopus secretes an inky fluid with which to color the water.
Some animals have great skill in hiding themselves. Some have electric defenses. Some are covered with prickles.
Man has a natural instinct of self-preservation. He will run or fight or hide himself...or use other methods of defense.
This law of defense is manifest in man's physical contact with nature. This is known too well to need explanation.
He has also various mental defense mechanisms.
Likewise in spiritual things he seeks to protect himself.
These various defense mechanisms have a powerful effect upon our conduct.
When we are brought into a trial, threatened by something that will hurt or annoy us, or when we are afraid...our defense mechanisms begin at once to function.
The first impulse is to run away, to escape from the trouble.
We shrink from what hurts.
We try to avoid trials and all hard or unpleasant things.
It is often the part of wisdom to avoid unpleasantness as far as we can, without sacrificing something vital.
But if we give away too much to this disposition to shrink and run away — then we shall become cowards.
We lose strength of character, courage, and the qualities that win in life.
A coward can never feel self-respect; and if we are spiritual cowards, we shall be lacking in manhood and womanhood.
We cannot respect cowardice, even when it is in ourselves.
This disposition to escape unpleasantness, often leads to an unfair excusing of ourselves in things in which we have been at fault.
It often leads to our putting a wrong spin on happenings, to exaggeration, to minimizing the facts, or even to plain lying.
These are the natural fruits of fear and worry, and they undermine spiritual character.
They take the joy out of life.
We need to watch our defense mechanisms, and be sure that we use right methods of defense — methods that build up the character, rather than tear it down; methods that increase courage, faith, and determination.
We should conquer the instinctive cowardice of our natures.
Safety first may be a good slogan...but safety through the faulty measures mentioned, is not real safety.
It is only exchanging one kind of danger for another.
Another defense mechanism is the tendency to resistance.
When we adopt proper measures of resistance, the results will probably be good. We are likely to be strengthened, encouraged, and helped.
It is likely to bring out the best in us.
But sometimes this instinct of resistance manifests itself in murmuring, complaining against circumstances or against people, blaming others for our plights or our troubles, or shifting responsibility.
These may become chronic fault-finding and result in such a critical attitude that we are hard to please, contentious, and ill-tempered.
We may become disposed to impatience, and find it hard to practice self-control.
We may harbor resentment against others, and become unkind and uncharitable in our attitude.
Not only do non-Christians have such trouble...but many Christians are tempted in this way.
They worry and fear.
They become discouraged, and then the bad characteristics mentioned above begin to manifest themselves in them.
They have to fight to overcome them.
They wonder why they are impatient, why it is hard to be kind, and why they feel resentful.
They need not be surprised, however.
The impatience and resentment merely indicate an effort to escape from some unpleasant situation.
So you need not be surprised if you have a conflict within, when you worry and give way to discouragement.
To get rid of the conflicts...get rid of your worry, your fear, and your discouragement.
Then these tendencies will naturally disappear.
But if you are given to worry...then do not expect to escape wholly from tenseness and conflict.
Indeed you are likely to have much trouble with them.
These are not necessarily the result of sin. They are the result of worry and fear.
They come from a wrong attitude of mind, a wrong outlook on life, and a wrong way of trying to overcome difficulties.
In such a situation, the outlook is negative.
We need to change to a positive attitude.
We need to put faith, in the place of doubts. Trust, instead of worry.
We need to look on the bright side, instead of the dark side.
A negative attitude destroys our faith and robs us of courage, so we can bear little.
It covers the bright picture of hope, with sackcloth. It banishes peace.
Instead of soul rest, we have turmoil and trouble.
It robs us of balance and poise. Confidence fades away.
It gives place to distrust. We lose our power of initiative.
In fact, worry and fear rob us of all the choice blessings we might possess.
They prevent us from using our powers...and make us pygmies instead of giants.
The triumphant life results from courageous action...and courageous action is always based on faith.
It has a hopeful outlook.
It faces the future with confidence.
This is the normal attitude of the Christian.
But worry causes heaviness, discouragement, dissatisfaction, despondency, and perhaps despair.
Long giving way to worry, will change the character.
The blithe gaiety of childhood, the courageous strength of manhood, the joyful song of victory...will give way to moroseness and gloom.
Clouds will cover the sky and we will forget that the sun shines anywhere.
We will ruin our influence with others. They feel more like shunning us, rather than being in our society.
Worry shackles our hands.
It robs life of what is most worthwhile.
If we cultivate a worry tree or a number of them...then we must expect that they will bear this sort of fruit.
Worry also has another extremely bad result. It dishonors God.
We say God is our Father, that he is taking care of us.
We say we have faith in him. We say we believe God is faithful.
Then we act in a way altogether contrary to this!
If God is our God, and if he is taking care of us, if we are safe in his care, if no evil can come to us without his permission...then what are we worrying about?
If God really is what he says he is, and what we believe he is...then we have no reason to worry.
Things are bound to come out all right. God will find some way to bring us through to victory.
He will work for our good, in whatever life may bring.
If we really believe that God is true and that he is true to us...then there is not a reason under Heaven for us to spend one moment worrying.
Again, worry dishonors God's Word.
He has made definite promises. These promises are either true or they are not true.
If they are not true then we may have cause for worry.
But if they are true then let us act like it.
Do we actually believe God's Word?
If so, when we are tempted to worry, let us sit down, take that Word, and read its promises.
Then let us believe them and act as though we believe them. When we do this, there can be no room for worry.
Worry ignores the help God has given us in the past, and the victories he has given us through his grace.
When we are tempted to worry, we should sit down and look over the past and see how many circumstances came out better than we expected they would.
We should observe how God has helped us in the past and say with one of old, "Hitherto has the Lord helped us!"
It will do us great good, when we are tempted to worry to recount our past victories; to look back and see that our past worries were all for nothing.
When did worrying help anything for you?
When did worrying keep anything from coming upon you that otherwise would have come?
When did worry shield you from any trouble?
Get rid of your worry tree! Get out from under its shadow.
Get into God's sunshine.
If you will do this...then it will not be long until the song of victory flows forth from your lips, and peace and courage and hope spring up anew in your heart!
~Charles Naylor~
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| FERTILIZING The Worry Tree |
They fertilize
it and water it.
Oh, they do not mean to do this! Nevertheless
they do it.
They would like to be rid of their worries. Very often they
worry over their worries.
I once knew a woman who was so given
to worry that when everything was going well and she could find nothing to
worry about...she would worry because she thought things were going too
well, and would certainly change for the worse.
Nor is she the only person
of this sort I have seen.
But how do we fertilize the worry
tree?
There are many ways. Some of them we shall recount...
First: We increase our worries by failure to face the facts calmly.
We are
like some horses. We become frightened at some things which have in them
nothing that ought to frighten us.
When we come to realize this, we are
sometimes quite ashamed of ourselves.
When there is a threatening or
unpleasant prospect before us and we are tempted to worry over it - we
should not allow ourselves to become excited or agitated.
We can meet things
in calmness, better than we can when agitated; when we are masters of
ourselves better - than when we are the prey of our fears.
We should face the facts...all the
facts.
We should not merely take note of the ones that oppress our feelings
most.
Our tendency naturally is to look at the worst side, to be impressed
by the most threatening elements, and to overlook the favorable ones.
We are
influenced by our feelings more than by sound judgment; and by our
fears, more than by our courage.
Troubles often look much worse than they
are.
In fact, we can usually bear them better than we suppose we can - but
we are naturally disposed to take one look at any threat, then fear the
worst.
One of old said, "I feared a fear..."and it came upon me."
Why did his fear come upon him?
Because fear made him
adopt an attitude that opened a way for its coming.
He threw down his shield
of faith.
He began to tremble and shrink.
If he had resolutely faced his
fear...then it probably would never have come upon him.
Failure to give weight to the facts
we know, will fertilize the worry tree.
Very often we know that we can meet
trouble if we will.
We know there are certain favorable aspects that we
should consider.
But instead of giving attention to these, we look entirely
at the unfavorable appearances.
We forget that the weapons of our warfare
are mighty through God.
We are like a soldier who told of an
experience he had in our Civil War.
One day he was riding out with a comrade
when suddenly they came face to face with two of the enemy.
There was a
lively exchange of shots.
In the end one of the enemy lay dead upon the
ground, while the other was severely wounded.
Upon returning to camp this
man examined his revolver.
To his surprise not a shot had been fired.
His
companion had done all the shooting that had overcome their enemies.
He had
sat on his horse like a statue, fearfully forgetting all about his part.
I think that all too many of us,
when we face a conflict - forget our weapons and the ability we have to use
them, and instead of fighting we worry, and worry.
Second:
Another mistake we make, is giving way to our feelings rather than
controlling them.
Our emotions are easily stirred, whether they be
joyful emotions or the opposite.
Very often bad feelings assert themselves...fear, doubts, timidity, foreboding.
We give place to them.
We let them run
riot.
We fall into a panic.
We should take command of our
feelings. We should master them.
Our action should be a response to good
judgment instead of to our emotions.
Many people are tormented by the
foreboding of evils to come, and these forebodings are the source of
disturbances in all the faculties.
This need not be if we will control
ourselves and make the intellect rather than the emotions, the captain of
our soul.
Third:
We fertilize the worry tree, by exaggerating the possibilities of
evil and by not considering the probabilities of good.
When we are
threatened with some evil, let us ask ourselves the question, "Will this
thing necessarily turn out evil?
Will it necessarily prove to be what it
looks as though it might be?
Will the results assuredly be what they promise
to be?"
Let us look at the factors that may
balance these possibilities.
Let us give due weight to the possibilities on
the positive side.
Let us ask ourselves whether we are not adding to
the real dangers by our imagination.
Let us see if we are not
magnifying the chances of things going wrong.
Strip the circumstances of the
seeming and get down to the reality.
They will usually be
found to be much less dangerous than they appear, and we shall see that
there is little if any cause to fear them.
Fourth:
A fertile source of trouble is self-pity.
I know of nothing that can
torture a soul more than self-pity...
And this self-pity has in it an element
of cowardice.
We say, "Oh, it is too bad that I must suffer so.
It is too
bad that I must have such trouble.
How unfortunate I am!
How much trouble I
have to endure!
Why can I not get along easily as do others?
Why must my
way be so rough?
Why must I meet so many difficulties?
Oh, my
poor self! What shall I do?
If one wants to make himself
thoroughly unhappy...let him adopt such a course.
It matters not whether
there is anything really calculated to produce unhappiness.
Self-pity of
itself is sufficient to make us miserable.
Get rid of self-pity if you want
to be happy, for you never will be happy while you have it...except with
that poor sort of satisfaction which comes through feeling sorry for one's
self.
Fifth:
A twin sister to self-pity is a disposition to seek the sympathy of
others and to enjoy telling our troubles, magnifying them in a way to excite
sympathy.
These things shrivel up the soul.
We often increase our fears and
troubles by telling them to others.
The more we think of them and the more
we tell them...the deeper the impression made upon our own mind by them.
Sixth: A further source of trouble is questioning the loyalty of others to
us or their interest in us and sympathy for us.
Do not expect other people
to worry because you worry, or to fear because you fear.
If we show ourselves real soldiers
and meet difficulty with courageous, hopeful, forward-looking faith, and
then things go ill with us we may expect ready sympathy.
If we show
ourselves cowards, if we whine and sniffle then to bestow sympathy upon us
would be to waste it.
Seventh:
And finally, we fertilize the worry tree by questioning God's
faithfulness and love and mercy.
Have you been fertilizing your worry
tree?
If so you have only yourself to blame if it spreads itself over all
your dwelling, and if it sighs day and night in the mournful breeze, like
the somber moaning of the pine.
~Charles Naylor~
The vigor and tenacity of life in a
tree, is determined largely by the soil in which it grows.
One of the best ways to get rid of worries, is to ignore the doubts upon which they are founded.
Troubles let alone, have a way of curing themselves.
As long as we fill our brain with worry we will increase our trouble.
The less we think about our troubles the smaller they become.
The more we think about them the more rapidly they grow, and the less capable we are of overcoming them or meeting them successfully.
The surest way to get rid of the worry tree is to cut it down with the ax of faith.
There is no worry or fear in trust.
I repeat this thought over and over...that it may sink deep into your heart and mind.
When you worry then you do not trust.
When you trust then you do not worry.
You cannot do both these at one time.
Permit me to suggest a way to develop your faith.
Take your Bible and some paper. Write out a list of promises which meet your need.
Read these promises over every day. Read them until they become real to you.
Whenever you catch yourself worrying or fearing then get those promises and read them.
Say after you read each one, "This is true and it means me." Say this over and over until you come to believe it.
Perhaps at first your words will mock you. Perhaps the promises will seem to mock you. I have had the experience. I know how it feels.
I know also from personal experience, that we can keep right at it, reading these promises, asserting that they are true, asserting that they mean us...until in our own consciousness they do come to mean us.
They come to soothe and comfort us. They neutralize our fears.
Little by little we come to trust in them and as we trust, we cease to worry.
Our fears grow less. We come into a restful attitude.
There is a sure cure for all of our worries, if we take it.
That cure is an attitude of simple trust in God and his promises.
Worry is a mental habit.
Children are not prone to worry, or if they do, it is only momentarily.
There is a natural flexibility to the human mind that throws off worry, until we rob it of its flexibility by cultivating the habit of worrying.
Any bad habit can be broken so the worry habit can be broken.
If you are troubled with worry, start in to break yourself of it, just as you would break yourself of any other improper or hurtful habit.
Worrying is an extremely hurtful habit.
It is an abnormal mental state possible of correction and we owe it to ourselves to correct it.
We cannot help thoughts coming into our minds...but it is within our power to direct our thoughts.
We can reject unwelcome thoughts.
We can compel ourselves to quit thinking, what we do not wish to think.
We can supplant improper thoughts with bright, cheerful thoughts.
From a long experience of suffering, being confined to my bed, with nothing to do, being in fact unable to do anything, and having sunk to the depths of discouragement and black despair...I finally learned to supplant my dark thoughts with bright ones.
I found that I must keep my thoughts off of myself...
So I deliberately turned my thoughts into other persons and ideas.
Of course, the old gloomy thoughts reasserted themselves but as often as they came back, I supplanted them with something else, and finally broke myself completely of the habit of worrying and of thinking depressing thoughts.
One thing very needful, is the will not to worry.
Suggestion has a profound effect upon us.
Our thoughts have this power of suggestion.
We can suggest negative ideas to our minds or we can suggest positive ideas.
We can suggest discouragement or we can suggest encouragement.
We can make our minds run in the channel in which we choose for them to run.
Positive suggestion is the basis of a happy and successful life. Make your thoughts help you rather than hinder you.
One trouble with many people is that they are always resisting something.
They are always on the defensive.
This attitude of resistance toward our circumstances and surroundings, places us under a continuous strain.
One writer has said, "Most nervous patients are in a constant state of muscular contraction; but a large percentage of the things that harass and vex them, causing them nervous tenseness, would cease to torture them if they would simply stop resisting.
It is our perpetual resistance to annoying trifles which gives them power to annoy us."
I do not advocate surrender to circumstances.
What we need is to adjust ourselves to them.
This constant revolt against circumstances so common in many people, takes the joy out of their lives.
It keeps them under a perpetual strain.
It uses up their energy to no purpose.
Do not use up your energy resisting circumstances.
Displace the undesirable by something else, if that is possible. If not, adjust yourself to it...make the best of it.
Let us use as great intelligence in these matters, as we do in others. When I am cold I do not resist the cold...I seek warmth.
When I am hungry I do not resist hunger...I seek food.
When I am weary...I rest.
When I am anxious or worried...I turn to faith and trust.
The psalmist said, "What time I am afraid I will trust in you."
He had learned the secret of overcoming trouble.
The word worry is not in the Bible.
You may look for it from cover to cover. You will not find it.
As God did not think it necessary to use the word worry in the Bible, or have it used there...just so it need not be in the Christian life.
To be sure the equivalent to worry is in the Bible. We find fear, trouble, and words of like nature but we are commanded not to be afraid, not to be troubled.
Many people are like those of whom the psalmist speaks. They are "in great fear where there was nothing to fear" (Psalm 53:5).
Most of our troubles are imaginary, or if there is real trouble then we add much to it through our imagination and fear.
Some people are so afraid of trouble, that they are never at rest.
They are frightened at nothing; even as it is written, "The sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them!" (Leviticus 26:36)
Listen to this promise: "Whoever hearkens unto me, shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil" (Proverbs 1:33).
He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear . . . all the days of our life (Luke 1:74, 75).
The experience of the psalmist may be our experience if we will do as he did: "I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears" (Psalm 34:4).
We shall also do well to hold an attitude like that of the psalmist: "The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1).
The result of holding that attitude is stated in verse three, "Though an army should encamp against me my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me in this will I be confident.
Read also Psalm 46:1, 2, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging."
Again, "In God I have put my trust I will not fear what flesh can do unto me" (Psalm 56:4). The exhortation of Christ is, "Be not anxious" (Matthew 6:25).
Read also verses 31, 34; Luke 12:25, 26. Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled" (John 14:1).
What reason does he give that we should not be troubled?
He continues, "You believe in God." To him, that was sufficient reason for not worrying. It ought to be sufficient reason to us.
In verse 27 he says, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you…. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
Now, for a concluding thought which we shall do well to keep fresh in our minds. When we trust in and obey God then whatever comes to us must come in his will.
It cannot come without his knowledge.
His watchful care is ever over us. He will always keep us, no matter how many troubles come.
Therefore if we abide in him and his Word abides in us then we shall never have cause to worry.
We are safe and secure, no matter how threatening future or present troubles may be.
So cut down your worry tree with the ax of faith and rest in full assurance of faith in the righteousness and love of God.
~Charles Naylor~
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| DESTROYING The Worry Tree |
I lived
for many years in a state where the soil is fertile, the ground level, and
where beech trees were very numerous.
I had occasion to belt many of them,
and observed that they were very easily killed.
Before that, I had lived in
another state where the soil is clay and the country very hilly.
Here the
beech trees were very hard to kill.
I remember a neighbor's attempt at
killing a tree that stood by the roadside.
Not only did he belt it...but his
boys climbed the tree and cut off the branches a little distance from the
trunk.
These were then piled around the tree and burned. I wondered why they
were taking such radical steps to kill the tree.
The next spring I learned
the reason.
In spite of all of this treatment, the stubs of the branches
which had been cut off, grew out new twigs and leafed out.
New shoots
sprouted up.
With all their labor, they had not accomplished their purpose.
The difference was not in the climate - it must have been in the soil.
We have already pointed out that
the worry tree grows in the soil of doubt.
We can hold an attitude of
doubt, which is favorable to worry and fear.
On the other hand we can
hold an attitude of faith, which is altogether unfavorable
toward these things.
In order to destroy the worry tree, we should change
the soil around its roots.
We cannot uproot it and destroy it by an act of
our will.
We can take away its favorable soil.
We can develop faith.
We can
believe in God.
We can turn our eyes away from our worries and our troubles and look upon God.
We can cease to fertilize the worry tree.
We can cease
to rob ourselves of our heritage of victory willed to us by our heavenly
Father.
We can have that rest of soul
which God has promised us.
We can find it only in him.
But as long as we
permit all our time to be occupied with giving attention to our worries...we
shall have no time to give to the cultivation of those graces which God
would freely develop in us to give us happiness and contentment.
We so often
cultivate doubts instead of cultivating faith.
It is important that we
learn how we are doing this, and then adopt a different course.
We can all
have faith if we will go about it right and faith is the victory that
overcomes all of our troubles.
One of the best ways to get rid of worries, is to ignore the doubts upon which they are founded.
Troubles let alone, have a way of curing themselves.
As long as we fill our brain with worry we will increase our trouble.
The less we think about our troubles the smaller they become.
The more we think about them the more rapidly they grow, and the less capable we are of overcoming them or meeting them successfully.
The surest way to get rid of the worry tree is to cut it down with the ax of faith.
There is no worry or fear in trust.
I repeat this thought over and over...that it may sink deep into your heart and mind.
When you worry then you do not trust.
When you trust then you do not worry.
You cannot do both these at one time.
Permit me to suggest a way to develop your faith.
Take your Bible and some paper. Write out a list of promises which meet your need.
Read these promises over every day. Read them until they become real to you.
Whenever you catch yourself worrying or fearing then get those promises and read them.
Say after you read each one, "This is true and it means me." Say this over and over until you come to believe it.
Perhaps at first your words will mock you. Perhaps the promises will seem to mock you. I have had the experience. I know how it feels.
I know also from personal experience, that we can keep right at it, reading these promises, asserting that they are true, asserting that they mean us...until in our own consciousness they do come to mean us.
They come to soothe and comfort us. They neutralize our fears.
Little by little we come to trust in them and as we trust, we cease to worry.
Our fears grow less. We come into a restful attitude.
There is a sure cure for all of our worries, if we take it.
That cure is an attitude of simple trust in God and his promises.
Worry is a mental habit.
Children are not prone to worry, or if they do, it is only momentarily.
There is a natural flexibility to the human mind that throws off worry, until we rob it of its flexibility by cultivating the habit of worrying.
Any bad habit can be broken so the worry habit can be broken.
If you are troubled with worry, start in to break yourself of it, just as you would break yourself of any other improper or hurtful habit.
Worrying is an extremely hurtful habit.
It is an abnormal mental state possible of correction and we owe it to ourselves to correct it.
We cannot help thoughts coming into our minds...but it is within our power to direct our thoughts.
We can reject unwelcome thoughts.
We can compel ourselves to quit thinking, what we do not wish to think.
We can supplant improper thoughts with bright, cheerful thoughts.
From a long experience of suffering, being confined to my bed, with nothing to do, being in fact unable to do anything, and having sunk to the depths of discouragement and black despair...I finally learned to supplant my dark thoughts with bright ones.
I found that I must keep my thoughts off of myself...
So I deliberately turned my thoughts into other persons and ideas.
Of course, the old gloomy thoughts reasserted themselves but as often as they came back, I supplanted them with something else, and finally broke myself completely of the habit of worrying and of thinking depressing thoughts.
One thing very needful, is the will not to worry.
Suggestion has a profound effect upon us.
Our thoughts have this power of suggestion.
We can suggest negative ideas to our minds or we can suggest positive ideas.
We can suggest discouragement or we can suggest encouragement.
We can make our minds run in the channel in which we choose for them to run.
Positive suggestion is the basis of a happy and successful life. Make your thoughts help you rather than hinder you.
One trouble with many people is that they are always resisting something.
They are always on the defensive.
This attitude of resistance toward our circumstances and surroundings, places us under a continuous strain.
One writer has said, "Most nervous patients are in a constant state of muscular contraction; but a large percentage of the things that harass and vex them, causing them nervous tenseness, would cease to torture them if they would simply stop resisting.
It is our perpetual resistance to annoying trifles which gives them power to annoy us."
I do not advocate surrender to circumstances.
What we need is to adjust ourselves to them.
This constant revolt against circumstances so common in many people, takes the joy out of their lives.
It keeps them under a perpetual strain.
It uses up their energy to no purpose.
Do not use up your energy resisting circumstances.
Displace the undesirable by something else, if that is possible. If not, adjust yourself to it...make the best of it.
Let us use as great intelligence in these matters, as we do in others. When I am cold I do not resist the cold...I seek warmth.
When I am hungry I do not resist hunger...I seek food.
When I am weary...I rest.
When I am anxious or worried...I turn to faith and trust.
The psalmist said, "What time I am afraid I will trust in you."
He had learned the secret of overcoming trouble.
The word worry is not in the Bible.
You may look for it from cover to cover. You will not find it.
As God did not think it necessary to use the word worry in the Bible, or have it used there...just so it need not be in the Christian life.
To be sure the equivalent to worry is in the Bible. We find fear, trouble, and words of like nature but we are commanded not to be afraid, not to be troubled.
Many people are like those of whom the psalmist speaks. They are "in great fear where there was nothing to fear" (Psalm 53:5).
Most of our troubles are imaginary, or if there is real trouble then we add much to it through our imagination and fear.
Some people are so afraid of trouble, that they are never at rest.
They are frightened at nothing; even as it is written, "The sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them!" (Leviticus 26:36)
Listen to this promise: "Whoever hearkens unto me, shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil" (Proverbs 1:33).
He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear . . . all the days of our life (Luke 1:74, 75).
The experience of the psalmist may be our experience if we will do as he did: "I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears" (Psalm 34:4).
We shall also do well to hold an attitude like that of the psalmist: "The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1).
The result of holding that attitude is stated in verse three, "Though an army should encamp against me my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me in this will I be confident.
Read also Psalm 46:1, 2, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging."
Again, "In God I have put my trust I will not fear what flesh can do unto me" (Psalm 56:4). The exhortation of Christ is, "Be not anxious" (Matthew 6:25).
Read also verses 31, 34; Luke 12:25, 26. Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled" (John 14:1).
What reason does he give that we should not be troubled?
He continues, "You believe in God." To him, that was sufficient reason for not worrying. It ought to be sufficient reason to us.
In verse 27 he says, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you…. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
Now, for a concluding thought which we shall do well to keep fresh in our minds. When we trust in and obey God then whatever comes to us must come in his will.
It cannot come without his knowledge.
His watchful care is ever over us. He will always keep us, no matter how many troubles come.
Therefore if we abide in him and his Word abides in us then we shall never have cause to worry.
We are safe and secure, no matter how threatening future or present troubles may be.
So cut down your worry tree with the ax of faith and rest in full assurance of faith in the righteousness and love of God.
~Charles Naylor~
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