Worry Warts

I am a total worry wart. I tend to stress–a lot.

Even though I know better, I worry about a lot of things, even when I know I can’t do anything about them.

I worry about money. I worry about getting sick. I worry about dying and leaving my small children without a mother. I worry about something happening to someone I love. And for a person who usually has a pretty high level of self-confidence, I tend to worry about what other people think of me.

I know that worrying is stupid. I know what the Bible says about worrying and how worrying is useless. I know. I know. I know!

But that doesn’t stop me from occasionally falling into a worry-fit.

Lately I’ve been worrying a lot about numbers and what numbers have to do with my writing.

I’ve been watching my Twitter & blog numbers, worried that I’m not doing enough. I’ve been counting words in my manuscripts. I’ve been counting minutes and hours between hearing from important people who are helping my writing career. I’m worrying about what kind of impression I make as a writer, how to effectively use social media, and the slow in-between days when I’m waiting for things to happen.

I’m worried about time–how much I can manage and how much I have to do what I want to do each day, dividing it between home, family, writing, and all my various other responsibilities and activities.

And I’ve been worrying about what other people think of me, based on these numbers.

The other day I picked up my son’s kindergarten newsletter–the one his teacher sends home weekly to let us know what they are working on in class, and God used it to get my attention about the business of worrying.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. Col 3:23

My son’s verse of the week immediately convicted me.

Worrying (like a wart) is ugly. Worrying is most often self-centered.

All the worrying I have been doing has been because I’m focusing on myself–on the recognition I expect to get as a writer. On the impact I want to have. On what I want to do and how I want things to go and in the time frame in which I would like to manage things.

Those sorts of worries mean that I’ve been working for men.

I need to refocus my heart–off myself and onto Him–and give up those worries. They are useless because no matter what I’m doing, if I’m working for the Lord within His will, then I have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Share with Me: Who are you working for?  Do you find yourself worrying unnecessarily sometimes? How do you overcome it?