Dear Friend, please stop worrying

Dear friend, I decided to write to you about worrying today because it is something that is so evident in our lives, something that most of us are battling with or running from. I know it’s not easy anywhere, I mean, who’s without problems in this world? So, I have come with this letter to tell you that worrying isn’t the solution, I guess I can term it a distraction and not a way out. Worrying is vain and a misplacement of what the priority should be.

Dear friend, how are you doing and how is the New year coming along, I saw your beautiful comment from my last letter and I was so glad that you could resonate to the letter. In the end, 2023 has 365 days and you also have years to achieve what your life has been predestined for. So why worry dear friend?

One of the many battles I faced in my life was the issue of worrying, it usually starts as fantasies or thinking of my dreams, then it builds up to this strange burden heavying my heart and rending any form of sleep useless. You can agree with me that worrying breeds anxiety and disbelief in who you are and in who God is in your life. You can also agree that worrying is quite dangerous to the health and that’s why as a kid I prayed that my parents never worry because I didn’t want them to have a heart attack. Now, that was something I learned from Mmesoma, my primary school friend.

I have faced battles in my life that made me understand that saying ‘don’t worry’ is quite difficult especially when you have no choice other than to worry or think or just cry.

There are times when you feel that the world is deposited on your shoulders, times when you feel like giving up, when the only thing that comes dropping out of your mouth are munched up cries and this is usually as a result of things not going well or even improving. I know you may have been in situations where you were inconsolable and could not fathom why your life was the way it was and that’s specifically why I am writing to you today.

In these times, you start to doubt your very existence, your worth and it even pressures you to give up on life completely. I remember going through these same challenges, always thinking the worst that things will never turn out well because I had so many challenges, always thinking that no one would hear my name and that all my manuscripts will turn to dust and it broke me to pieces. Trust me, that is the worst feeling ever, the feeling that you just want it all done with, the feeling of hate and comparison, the feeling of sleepless nights and worry, the feeling of not being good enough, the feeling of thinking that things may go wrong even before it begins.

There is a verse in the Bible that I love uniquely because it is blunt and sensible, you could see it in Matthew 6:27 which says that ‘Which of you by worrying can add any flesh unto his stature’? And it made me ask myself so many questions like; why worry over something when the solution won’t come from the ravaging thoughts, why destroy the peace of the heart with worrying when it won’t add a flesh to our skin. I think people who don’t like themselves should worry often, because that’s the essence of this verse. It is quite blunt but profoundly reasonable and truth deepening. It states what is useful and useless in few words and makes us realize that thinking and worrying is a sure pain in the ass and stealer of flesh.

But if you read from that chapter 6 of the book of Matthew, verse 25 talked about how we shouldn’t think of what we shall eat or drink or wear, the passage went on to talk about the fowls of the air and how they eat without knowing where food will come from.

I have been asked by a teenager before why this verse is contradictory because the same Bible says that faith without work is dead and we aren’t expected to just wait and do nothing while expecting God’s grace and provision. Well, I am a firm advocate of work hard and expect miracles not be lazy and expect miracles.

So, when asked this question, I paused and smiled because God always grants wisdom in these things and honestly speaking, I didn’t want to defend the scripture to her, I just wanted her to realize in context where the scripture was pointing at. Sometimes we misunderstand the essence of things, words and generally what the Bible is saying, we use logical thinking to process something that is so spiritual.

The Bible in this passage wasn’t saying to us that we should not work to provide for ourselves, rather it was teaching us to restrain from worrying about something that God has already done, it was teaching us to understand that we have everything in our reach being God to succeed, so we need not worry. It was telling us to trust God and not our abilities, it was admonishing us to live a life of thanksgiving and less worry. Because when we thank God for the things he has done, we attract his blessings towards us, but when we complain and worry, the devil steals his peace from us and makes us anxious in ways no one can explain.

This is what Matthew 6 was talking about.

So, work hard but don’t worry about what is within God’s power to do, do not fret over something he has already taken care of, do not have sleepless nights because of tomorrow, today has enough problems.

Sometimes you think too much of a future that God has got covered, can’t you trust him?

Sometimes, you may wonder if God truly loves you, if all that you do is enough to please him. The thing is, God doesn’t love you because you love him, or worship him or don’t sin. He loved you before you were formed. Oh, what manner of love is that.

Today, you may read this letter and be like; she has no idea what I am going through.

Dear friend, the fun fact is that I have troubles too, the ones that I keep trusting God to solve and that’s why I understand that worrying cannot solve anything because it breeds fear and anguish, it makes you tired and lazy and angry. It puts hate in your heart towards yourself and tells you why you may not achieve your dreams.

The annoying thing is that worry doesn’t go away unless we send it packing and I know that it isn’t easy to just stop worrying but here is what I think is easy; taking the decision. Just say yes to this, say yes to stop worrying over things that God has in control, say yes to trusting God. Say yes to less worries and more thanksgiving.

Dear friend, worrying will give that beautiful and handsome face of yours wrinkles that you don’t deserve, worrying will take your peace away, worrying will leave you in disarray, worrying will break your spirit man, worrying will drag you far away from God, worrying will make you doubt yourself, worrying will kill your dreams, worrying will make you unhappy.

The truth is that there is not one single joy that resides in worrying.

Today is one day, tomorrow is another day and anything can happen.

Keep trusting that things will turn out well, don’t lose hope.

I am happy to send you this letter of comfort. Do well to stay safe and kindly like, comment and share this newsletter.

Till Next Time

Warm Regards,                                                                                                                                                           Amanda Sibi.