More people have died prematurely as a result of worry than we can imagine, and physicians tell us many patients in hospitals and mental institutions are there because of anxiety. Dr. 0. F. Gober, one of the medical executives of the Santa Fe railway, said that "Seventy percent of all patients who come to physicians could cure themselves if they only got rid of their fears and worries. Don’t think for a moment that I mean their ills are imaginary," he said, "Their ills are as real as a throbbing toothache and sometimes a hundred times more serious."

One of the problems most of us have is living in the past or the future instead of living today. We fret about a painful experience we had in our childhood, and allow that pain to hurt us daily. Listening to a young lady sharing her experience when she was in grade school was very enlightening. She took the interviewer back to the school playground and walked with him back to the house she had lived in, at the same time telling him the exact words they had shouted at her because she was overweight. God’s Word tells us "...forgetting those things which are behind..." (Philippians 3:13). What we experience is not what shapes or molds us, but what we choose to do with what we experience.

The other problem, equally harmful, is being concerned about tomorrow. My parents were told that my brother had a year to live when he was six years old because of a serious heart condition. My mother lived the rest of her life (thirty years) worrying about the pain of losing her son. My brother died two years after my Mom’s death.

Worry is a waste of time. We are told in Matthew 6:27, "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?" Being anxious has never solved one problem, and always starts with negative thinking. The Lord is always positive, and all negative thoughts should immediately be replaced with positive ones. The Bible tells us, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23).

God wants us to come to Him in prayer. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7). When we come to Him in prayer, and share with Him our innermost thoughts, knowing we can trust the Lord to work it out for His glory, we will know His peace. Instead of being anxious, let us believe God.

One of the worst things about being anxious is that we are doubting God’s Word. As we read the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, which is frequently called the faith chapter, we are impressed by the men and women who are mentioned there. One thing they all have in common is that they believed what God had told them, and thereby pleased God. We, as believers, have been blessed with all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3), and His will for us is to live in a sin-cursed world, free from all worry!