ANXIETY, FIGHT IT OR FEED IT (Third in new series)

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It was said of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, that he arose each morning at four A.M., preached over 40,000 times and traveled over 250,000 miles on horseback. And, in the course of all of this, he never hurried, he never worried and he never let foolish anxieties wear him down.

Connie Mack was a baseball manager and not a preacher but he early learned a truth that allowed him to perform brilliantly the intricacies of life.

He used to say that he forced himself to spend his time preparing to win future games rather than wasting time and energy worrying about games he had lost. “You can’t grind grain with water that has already gone down the creek,” was one of his favorite booster phrases.

One of the field hands in my first rural pastorate often mused, “When I work, I work ha
rd. When I sit, I sit loose. And when I start to worry, I just go to sleep.”

“The future ain’t what it used to be” said Yogi Berra, as he sought to explain that whether things are bad or better we are most often bothered when they are different than we thought they would be.

Today we have Afghanistan; but remember Y2K not that long ago. Remember Vietnam, the Korean War, W.W. II.

It is truly hard to picture a time when there has not been some kind of political, economic or social turmoil.

Therefore, when problems come to call let the calendar be a teacher as you wisely “Wait upon the Lord; be of good courage, and (let Him) He shall strengthen thy heart.” (Psalm 27:14)

It is good to be able to stand on your own two feet, but some proper propping up by God certainly isn’t out of order “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee…” (Isaiah 26:3)

Call it prayer partnership. Call it linking with your creator. Call it spiritual common sense.

I like the way one little old lady, with ninety years linked up behind her, approached life.” She lived far out in the country all by herself and when asked if she was ever afraid, replied, “Why should I be? Faith closes my door at night and Mercy opens it in the morning.

Professional worry warts abound; camping on doctors doorsteps with imaginary ills until such anxieties produce the real thing. Others fall victim to the 9/11 syndrome and refuse to fly though driving is still more dangerous.

The beginning of any solution is to seek out proper authorities.

As Christians, once we have read the first class authority Jesus, Take no thought (anxiety) for the morrow(Matt.6:31), it makes common sense to find outstanding examples of those who have taken his words to heart.

Whatever anxiety moments find our doorstep, if we are to accomplish well the art of living we have to learn how to cooperate with the inevitable. An appointment made and our watch stops. Gone fishing and the only thing we catch is a bad cold in a rainstorm.

When such things happen we are not required to like what is happening, but at least we must learn to learn from a problem. This way it is not a complete waste of time.

Before we traded in our 1986 Dodge several years ago, we had a car that majored in stalling. It reminded me of 1 Timothy 1:6, Kindle afresh the gift of God. It didn’t kindle afresh. It didn’t want to go.

It was a king of quitters. Our present, newer car (not that new but certainly newer) doesn’t do that. It starts, never stutters then stops. Every time we want to go somewhere it kindles afresh with remarkable enthusiasm. There are dangers all around on the highway but it never notices. It is the epitome of confidence.

We banter the Biblical truth of the power of the Holy Spirit around when it comes to organizing our fight with fear. But Victory over anxiety requires more than spiritual repartee.

Emotional conquest only comes when we finally truly accept that the secret of finding the peace that passeth understanding is to not waste time trying to understand it.

Just thankfully accept the fact that peace comes from the presence of something rather than the absence of something. And that something is God.

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A quote from tomorrow’s blog entitled GOD IS WITH US

“An old preacher friend of mine used to counsel me, “Neil, if your knees are knocking, kneel on them.” Or another way of putting it, “You don’t have to worry about running from worry when you are practicing patella persuasion.”

When twin towers are built and…”

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BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM A NEW SERIES

A HEAVENLY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM(1st in series) (on Wyrick’s Writing’s)
click on URL below to go to Wyrick’s Writings
http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/


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It began Sunday Dec 26, 2010 (quote from Sunday Jan 2 2011 Heavenly Construction Program)

“I have always been intrigued by a question God put to Adam, “Where are you?” Why did He ask that? What is the meaning behind this? It wasn’t a geographical question, for certainly God knew the answer to that one.

It was a spiritual question to which God also had the answer. Then why ask it? For Adam’s sake, and all the Adams and Eves yet to come. For you and me in these 21st century days.

“Where are we? And where do we want to go? What do we want to be? And how much, or how little?” And we must never stop trying to answer God’s question as we try to get off a treadmill and aim toward a proper direction.

It’s called purpose, and…”

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V. Neil Wyrick’s ninth book is THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN and is now available on amazon.com at some rather good discount prices

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