Robert Frost said: ‘More people die of worry than die of work, because more people worry than work.’ Someone else said that you should only worry if your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles; or if your car horn goes off accidentally and remains stuck as you follow a group of Hell’s Angels; or if your tax refund cheque bounces. Other than that you don’t have anything to worry about.
The Bible, though, acknowledges that we all do worry and no matter how hard we may wish it to, it won’t go away. The only way to deal with it is by a conscious discipline of replacing negative, worrying thoughts with positive, faith-filled thoughts – renewing our minds by the practice of prayer with thanksgiving. ‘Put it into practice,’ the Bible says, ‘And the God of peace will be with you.’