When our daughter Sandra was a teenager, she occasionally got blemish breakouts on her face. She hated them and was extremely insecure about them. She focused on the blemish so much that she actually called attention to it. She talked about it excessively and by doing so, drew attention to it and others began to notice it. She squeezed it and picked at it and then tried so hard to cover it up with makeup that she actually made it worse. She was a pretty girl, had nice hair, and was lean and thin. She was smart, athletic, and had a great personality, but every month for a week all she focused on was the couple of pimples she got. This is a good example of how we magnify things simply by focusing on them excessively.
Just as it was natural for Sandra to do what she could to try to fix the problem, it is only natural to do the same thing with our problems. We would not be responsible if we did not look for solutions at all.
Considering our situation and what to do about it is one thing, but focusing on it is quite another. We can concentrate on our problems to the point that we often fail to notice or consider other things that we should notice. For example, it is important to count our blessings during challenging times because it keeps us from getting discouraged. We can focus on what needs to be done so much that we fail to see what God has done. If you are being tempted to worry about something right now, take time to write down all your blessings you can think of and it will help you not get overwhelmed by the problem.
When we have problems, we should do what we can do and not worry about what we cannot do. As my husband always says, “Do your responsibility and cast your care.”
Whatever we focus on becomes bigger and bigger in our minds. It is possible for a thing to seem much larger to us than it really is. When we worry, we focus on our problems; we continually roll them over and over in our minds, which is like meditating on them. When we are anxious about things, we also talk about them incessantly because what is in our hearts eventually comes out of our mouths (see Matthew 12:34). The more we think and talk about our problems, the larger they become. A relatively small matter can grow into a huge issue merely because we focus on it too much. Instead of meditating on the problem, we can meditate on the faithfulness of God and remind ourselves there is no need to worry.
We can spend all our time thinking and talking about what is wrong in the world or we can choose to concentrate on good things. We can focus on what is wrong with a family member, friend, or coworker or we can purposely look for and highlight what is right. If ten things are wrong and we only see two we feel are right, we can make the two seem larger than the ten by what we choose to concentrate on. This is a good time to remind yourself that you can choose your own thoughts. I have heard many people say, “I just can’t help it; I am a worrier.” The truth is that they chose to worry because they did not know how to trust God. We become good at worrying because we practice it and we can also become good at trusting God if we practice it. Let your first response in any situation be to trust God, not to worry. Speak out loud and say, “I trust God completely; there is no need to worry!” Satan, the enemy of our souls, does not want us to grow in faith; he wants us to be filled with worry, anxiety, and fear. He works hard to distract us from God by encouraging an excessive focus on our circumstances. We should develop a habit of letting what is in our heart become more real to us than what we see, think, or feel. My heart knows I can trust God completely, but my head often tells me to worry. If Satan can get us to think about what is wrong or what could go wrong with a situation, he can keep us from being able to focus on trusting God. This is why Hebrews 12:2 instructs us to look away from all that distracts us to Jesus, who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. If we look to God, think about Him, and speak of His goodness, we focus on faith and as we use our faith, we find that it grows. Little faith can become great faith through use. As we take steps to trust God, we experience His faithfulness and that, in turn, encourages us to have greater faith. As our faith develops and grows, our problems have less power over us and we worry less. We can choose to think about what God can do instead of what we cannot do. If we continually think about the difficulty of our situation we may end up in despair and that means we feel unable to find a way out. We feel trapped and then it is easy to panic and begin to do irrational things that only make the problem worse. The Bible tells us that God always provides the way out (see 1 Corinthians 10:13). Even though you might not see the way out right now, one does exist and God will reveal it as you trust Him.
Think about It
What situation are you facing right now that you can choose to trust God with instead of worrying?
*Joyce Meyer
