To Worry Is To Strangle Yourself

Right off the bat I will fully admit that I will be taking these verse (from Phil. 4 below) out of context.  At the same time I am not changing what Paul is suggesting which is not to fret and worry. Not to focus on the difficult and worst.  Instead focus on God and his activity in our life.  When we do that, Paul writes, God will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

The word harmony is an interesting concept for living in our everyday here on this planet of thriving dis-harmony.  And Paul is saying that in the midst of all of that dis-harmony stuff that God can create within us something that overpowers all the external stuff. Personally I am thankful that we have a God who gentles-down the noise of dis-harmony.  A God who touches our lives with the peace of grace that enables us to elude the daily crazy making.  Take for example your current stress -- or stresses -- that surround your being today.

Stop a moment to name them and discuss them with God.

Paul is suggesting -- and I truly believe this to be true -- that as we bring our worried, stresses, confusions to God they become God’s property.  God’s business!   God takes them from us and does amazing things with them, brings them to a point of harmony.  A point of some semblance of order! And yes, a point of restfulness.

Sound too fairy-tallish to you -- too idealistic?

I don’t think so!

.6 Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. 7 Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. 8 Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious - the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. 9 Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.(Phil.4:6-9 The Message)