by James Hall – January 6, 2024 – 6 minute read – Client resource
It may sound counterintuitive, but as Christians, we should look forward to unpleasant experiences, including worry. Not to somehow enjoy the suffering, but to practice putting trust in our Father. Our goal, unlike the world, is not to avoid discomfort, but to become like Christ.
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness,” James 1:2 (ESV).
Worry is a test of faith that shows where we have misplaced our trust. When our faith isn’t steadfast in God, we place it in idols.
This is revealed by God’s people in the making of the golden calf in Exodus 32:1: “When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, ‘Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’”
When God or others take too long, when we don’t know what’s going on, or when we don’t trust God for whatever reason, we move our faith into something that we think will meet our desires. The good, loving consequence God lets us feel is worry, because we cannot have true peace until our trust is in him.
But how can we practically address our worry and trust God?
This is one of the reasons that clinically-informed biblical counseling shines, because it makes biblical principles practical with effective techniques.
In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, there’s a technique called a thought log. In the technique, you identify a negative thought, the event around it, the emotional and behavioral consequences, and rational counter statements to dispute it. The desired outcome is a new healthy thought or belief that replaces the old, relieving the distressing emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.
I’ve made a similar technique for addressing worry which includes biblical principles of confession and repentance (Proverbs 28:13) and prayer, thanksgiving, and meditation (Philippians 4:6-9). It can be written out on paper, put in a digital note, or discussed with someone. Part of putting this into practice is using it repeatedly whenever needed, so it would help to have it accessible.
Using this technique should result in peace (Philippians 4:7, 9). If that is not happening after multiple attempts and/or there’s difficulties with different parts of this exercise, then I would recommend seeking pastoral/professional help in completing it.
Having said all this, your circumstances are not guaranteed or likely to change. God does comfort us sometimes by delivering us from affliction, but I would argue, he mainly comforts us by being with us in our suffering (2 Corinthians 1:4).
I pray that becoming like Jesus would be our priority. May our trials lead us to marvel at the God who gives us true peace (John 14:27) in every circumstance. And may we joyfully look forward to putting our trust ever more in the lover of our souls.
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