What does the word "worry" mean? Interestingly, the word in ancient English means "to choke or to strangle." So when you worry, the meaning of the English word is that somebody has you by your spiritual throat and is choking the life out of you. I think that is about it, isn’t it? When ever you worry you feel a sense of helplessness. It is when my mind is paralyzed and I become incapable of rational thought. It goes around and around and around. Like the merry-go-round. It keeps going, but it doesn’t go anywhere. Another definition that Joyce Meyer mentioned in her book, “Battlefield of the Mind” is “to torment oneself”.It seems that too many people have become addicted to worrying. In almost every function of their lives, something as simple as fretting over getting to a meeting on time. For others, it can mean being nervous about meeting someone for the first time. And the list goes on:
Ø Finance
Ø Health
Ø Family
Ø Relationship
Ø Community
Ø Work/Study
People with excessive worry often find that they feel uncomfortable with new situations or with situations they can't completely control. Over time chronic worriers can develop a restricted and unfulfilling lifestyle, and worry can begin to affect relationships, work and enjoyment of leisure activities. As a result, individuals with excessive worry often suffer from low self-esteem.
The types of common anxiety symptoms associated with worry that people might experience include:
Feelings of restlessness
Feelings of fatigue
Concentration difficulties
Irritability
Muscle tension
Sleep problems
"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? "And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'" "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
(Matthew 6:25-34)
