Paul Tells us in Philippians 4:6-7 that as believers in Christ we are supposed to pray instead of worry. I just watched Lawrence Bender being interviewed on the Charlie Rose program (Watch the interview here). Mr. Bender has a documentary coming out called Countdown to Zero. The movie is about nuclear proliferation and how close we are to a nuclear catastrophe. He says that within the next 50 years there is a 99% chance that we could have a major nuclear attack somewhere in the world. As I watched the program I could not help but think of how information like this affects people in their daily lives. How people lose their happiness because they can not stop worrying about when this or an event like this will happen.
My Bible Study this morning was on Philippians 4:8, but backing up a couple of verses it struck me how this show and this verse collide. As a Christian we are not supposed to let the world around us get so deeply ingrained that it affects our lives. When we worry, we are letting that thing take the place of thinking about God, and the good things he has done and is doing in our lives. When we spend time worrying about global catastrophes that we can not change we are actually hurting ourselves and not helping.
Worry does not just come from the global catastrophes. It comes from heart disease and cancer, from teenagers and young adults. It lives in so many forms that we can not escape it even for one day.
What are you worrying about that you can not change? Instead of worrying take the advice in Philippians 4:8
Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.(NLT)
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