In MAD Magazine, the famous red-headed Alfred E. Neuman would say, “What, me worry?” When I was a kid who just started to expand his mind and found one of those magazines, I fell in love … for awhile. The magazine was based on a rather brazen disrespect for everything — nothing was holy. Everyone got the MAD treatment and few things made it out the same as it entered. The world’s system tries to do the same to us.
As I continued to explore life on Earth and in my mind, I discovered many new ways of looking at things. From my coordinates in Zanesville, Ohio, I had only been given a single perspective, a single-power lens, from which to view the world. Like a kid looking into their first kaleidoscope, my world started out like a fantastic place of wonderment with the joy of exploration. Eventually, my world started to appear more like a nighttime sky and I became a lone wolf howling at the moon out of loneliness. I just didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere. Feeling imprisoned by situations, my environment, and my mind, I decided I had to get out and get going. There were people who made it clear I was different from everyone, but aren’t we all?
Just as many people say, “There are two kinds of people,” with virtually every single part of life imaginable, I learned there are two kinds of people: those who either value or devalue things. Creators and Destroyers. Saved and Unsaved. Pro-Life and Pro-Death. Artists and Engineers. Haves and Have-nots. The In-Crowd and the Marginalized. Victims and Warriors. The Trusting and the Worriers.
You might find yourself asking the question, “Where do I belong?”
“Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.”
One of the critical stages in life is the high school years. Puberty. Dysfunction. Lust. Drink and drugs. Temptations abounding! What I chose soon took over my childhood search for healthy relationships as I caved into a distorted version of myself. I rejected the real me, just like the “In-Crowd” did because the real me just wasn’t “good enough” for those who criticized me and pushed me out of the nest and into the lunatic fringe. The unforgivable sin? Poverty.
Entitlement is a trait of the Worrier (Victim), not of the Warrior. I remember going to the welfare department with my mother when I was young and the stares, no, glares, we got as my deaf mother and I walked the halls to the back offices where she was interviewed. I remember the walk to the back and concluded, ‘This must be where they take the really poor people,’ because of the coarse manner with which we were handled. We were appreciative of what we were given. We badly needed the help, yet did not want to remain poor. I never felt we deserved the help as if others somehow owed us.
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
I get how people can become a Victim and embrace the Victim Mentality. I used to be one. Worrying is a distinct attribute of the Victim. The Warrior embraces the role of the challenger and champion. Though the Warrior may have setbacks or concerns, those things never descend into ‘worry,’ but an opportunity to achieve greater focus. When the bullets fly, the Warrior runs to the battle lines while the Victim is trying to figure out who is going to take care of them when it’s all over. As the battle rages, the Warrior stands and fights the enemy, protecting the Victim while the Victims all gather together talking about how they can get rid of all the weapons the Warriors use to defend them.
Photo by Xuan Nguyen on Unsplash
I love the idea of a female Warrior. That idea has captured my imagination ever since I read a comic book about Wonder Woman. I remember my mother as a Worrier. She was an old pro. I think she imagined things to worry about for entertainment. Divorced twice, being deaf from the age of two, with three kids and fewer opportunities, in deep poverty … she was fully justified to be a worry-wart. However, the justification of it does not lead to the freedom from it.
Maybe you’re struggling with life. If you’re a casual worrier or even an old pro, and you find you ruminate over things you cannot control. You, of course, are not alone. You have a great opportunity - right now - to get your life going back in the right direction.
Conclusion
Even Einstein has concerns over something you might think would be right in his wheelhouse — mathematics. Why? Because he was trying to solve problems regarding things that don’t even cross most people’s minds. We all have problems. Nobody has all the answers but God. He made the Universe and everything in it by speaking it into being. Naturally, He knows why He did what He did … and He does not worry. Jesus tells us not to worry.
“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.”
But WHY are we not to worry? Because it’s sin? Yes, sin can also be its own punishment, but more to the point, God wants us spiritually, emotionally, and physically well. Worry is another form of fear. Unresolved fear alters our thought patterns and the stress from it can damage us emotionally — even to the point of insanity.
God does not want us to fall into fear’s trap. Fear is a component of depression and anxiety is a very common manifestation of it. Panic attacks are manifestations of a root fear having been triggered. The key is to get to the root of the fear you feel and instead of ruminating on it (worrying), openly confess it to God and hand it over to Jesus so He can deal with it for you in the spirit. Understand it’s most likely at least one of these roots: bitterness, jealousy, unforgiveness, believing a lie, insecurity, or inferiority.
The world knows little and rarely talks about mental health issues because they do not know the causes and solutions. However, as Christians, we know the One who dealt with all our sicknesses, infirmities, and sins on the Cross. These problems belong to Him and it’s our honor and privilege to lay them on His nail-scarred hands so He can deal with them. Hallelujah!
Prayer
Lord God, you have made it clear I am not to worry or to fear, but here I am. I do not want to worry or be fearful, but I have no idea of how to go about it. Please help me deal with the inner conflicts that cause me to feel weak and insufficient. I’ve wasted too much time worrying and nothing changes. Worrying is nothing but an incredible waste of time and I want my real life. I want to be the person You made me to be and nothing less. I ask that You would transform me, moment by moment and word by word and movement by movement into the Warrior You made me to be. I declare that, today (announce the date) is the date I am taking the first step toward the best, not just rest, of my life. I repent of, renounce, and reject being a Worrier and I now accept myself as a Warrior, because Your Word tells me You have made me to be a Warrior — an overcomer and more than a conqueror. I declare that today is a new day and I will partner with You through thick and thin, come what may. Show me the Way and have Your way, Lord! In Jesus’ holy name, amen!
Banner photo by Anh Nguyen on Unsplash