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Have Faith


                                                              with no faith, is damaged.  Worry is telling that person they are losing
                                                              faith in themselves.
                                                              So let’s look at a quick and typical scenario that we worry about.
                                                              Money!  the dreaded pennies cause us so much worry these days
                                                              especially when it comes to paying bills.  So the electric bill, lands on
                                               With Paul      our door mat and we open it up and see that it is pretty high for the
                                                              month.  First reaction is to start worrying, “How on earth are we going
                                                              to pay this?”  I have said this to myself and to my partner so many
        Don’t Worry, Be Happy...                              times yet, somehow a way is found to pay.  Maybe not in the time the
                                                              Electric company wants it but it gets paid. Worry over.  The fact is,
                                                              once we calm down, stop worrying, we can think straight and solutions
        I remember, in my younger days, that wonderful song by Bobby   are found.
        McFerrin, ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’.  Of course it was just a feel good
        song with comical verses but the message was something which   The same is applied spiritually. The trick is to stop worrying.  Once I
        was bang on and very often overlooked.  Ok, I’m putting my hands   do, I will ask God in prayer to help.  Being human means we are not
        up here, I have to admit to being a bit of a worrier.  But what good   perfect and subject to errors and failures.  That’s ok.  But by simply
        does worrying actually achieve?  No, this is not a retorical question,   asking for help normally gets the job done.  God is a good route to
        I actually want to look at the effects both physically, mentally and   ask for help.  I know not everybody agrees, that’s fine but personally, I
        spiritually.                                          know that the bible is full of advice about worrying.  That’s where I get
                                                              my strength from to overcome worrying matters.
        To start with, the physical effects of worrying are well documented.
        Stress, high blood pressure, weak immune system, the list goes on, so   There is a passage in the new testament that says all of this for me.
        we know very well worrying is not good for our physical well being.    Take a read of this:
        Mentally, it has very much the same effect, stress, headaches, lack of
        concentration, the lack of ability to get things done, anxiety, depression   Matthew 6: 25 - 34
        etc.  Yes, not very good at all.                      25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat
                                                              or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than
                                                              food, and the body more than clothes?
                                                              26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in
                                                              barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more
                                                              valuable than they?
                                                              27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
                                                              28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field
                                                              grow. They do not labor or spin.
                                                              29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed
                                                              like one of these.
                                                              30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today
                                                              and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—
                                                              you of little faith?
                                                              31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we
                                                              drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
                                                              32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father
                                                              knows that you need them.
                                                              33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things
                                                              will be given to you as well.
                                                              34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
                                                              about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
                                                              I wonder if Bobby McFerrin had this in mind while writing his song.  I
                                                              shall leave you with a fantastic phrase I learnt in Kenya many years ago
                                                              and was the subject of a song in the musical @The Lion King’
                                                              Hakuna Matata...  (No worries)






        But what about spiritually?  What good or damage does it do to our
        spiritual well-being?  There are very little ups here, I suppose we can
        argue that worrying may keep us from becoming complacent and keep
        us on the ball, personally I believe there are better ways to achieve this.
        But it can do a whole lot of damage to our soul.

        To me, If I worry about something, it means I am not trusting in God.
        A complete break-down in my faith.  Well, maybe not complete, but
        my faith has definitely weakened,  I completely understand that not
        everybody follows christianity and thats fine, we live in a very diverse
        world but worry doesn’t differentiate.  It affects us all.  Even somebody

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