This is just a teaser—check out the full article at Heart of the Matter Online.
We would all say that, of course, worship is better than worry, but what exactly are we talking about? I like lists. I like knowing the facts. So, I decided to look at the facts and make a list.
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines worry as, first of all, choking, strangling, harassing, tormenting, and struggling.
Worship, on the other hand, is focusing totally on someone else.
In my dictionary, there are six words separating worry and worship—so close, and yet so far! How do we make that six-step leap from worry to worship? I found six scripture passages that can act like steppingstones on the path from worry to worship.
1. Isaiah 48:17–18 (NIV) tell us that obedience is the key to peace, which is the opposite of worry. It says, “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river.”
2. What does obedience have to do with worship? We are commanded not to worry in the book of Matthew (6:25–34).
3. Jesus tells us in the story of the woman at the well that we must worship God “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24, NIV). If our spirits are consumed with worshipping God, we won’t have time to be worried.
4. So, what are we to think about if we can’t worry about next week’s schedule or our health? Philippians 4 lays it out pretty clearly: We are to dwell on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.
5. Isn’t worship something that happens on Sunday mornings in the church sanctuary? Do we have to come to church every day in order to worship God, or do we just have to worship on Sundays? The apostle Paul commands us to present our “bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:2, NIV).
6. Now, we’re ready to worship. Psalm 95:6–7 say, “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.”
I know you all want to know if this is my secret formula for not worrying.
choose worship over worry. You have to read the rest at HOTM in order to find out!
Bethany LaShell 