Stay Alive All Your Life - Part 4

Chapter 4 Kill Worry and Live Longer

Substitute faith for worry and fear. Fear is a strong force in the world, but faith is stronger! The word worry comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning to strangle or choke. When we worry we choke off our flow of power over a situation. Constant worrying creates stress in your body, which can lead to all kinds of diseases. There is truth in the phrase, “I’m worried to death” or “I’m sick with worry”! When you are worried deliberately fill your mind with faith. You can’t leave the mind empty from the bad emotion; you’ve got to immediately fill it with a good one.

This isn’t normal fear like when you see a bear and need to run by the way. Or if you’re worried because someone is sick. The first: you take the appropriate action and the second you help them as much as you can and pray about their health to God and know they are in His hands and it’s all going to turn out for good whether we see it as good or not from this side of heaven.

If someone has a serious illness the worst “help” you can be is to sit and worry with them. You’ve got to be positive, supportive and encouraging: let them know you are praying for them – and then do!

Dr. Peale also suggests reading books about people who have overcome things in life. Books with strong characters. Spiritual books. Positive books. Especially read the Bible. He even suggests underlining every passage that has to do with faith. Repeat them daily. Memorize them! Visualize them, understand them, make them part of your personality. Write “Trust God and Live one day at a time” somewhere where you’ll see it first thing in the morning and last thing at night. If you take the attitude that one day is all you have to worry about and then give that day all you have of faith and effort; believing God will be with you every step of the way – it will work and you’ll be blessed!

The ultimate technique for ending worry is to bring God into every fearful situation. No fear can live in the presence of God. The deeper your faith in God becomes the less power fear will have over you.

Psalm 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

Isaiah 43:5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.

The kind of fears that require you to do something though must be faced with boldness. If you have a fear of public speaking, you just have to start speaking in public to get over it! Usually you don’t try and fail, you fail because you never tried. Someone once asked Elizabeth Elliott how she managed after two husbands died. The person who asked had just lost hers and felt like she couldn’t go on. Elizabeth told her, “You just do the next thing.” If that means getting out of bed in the morning, making coffee and reading the paper – you just do that.”

Chapter 5 You can have power over your difficulties

With God’s help we can overcome our difficulties and lead a vital and victorious life.

Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

One thing about life: if things are going great right now, it won’t last. And if things are going really bad right now – that won’t last either! But, either way we’ll get through it. We always have!

We also need to think big! Look at problems in a creative and positive manner and we’ll see opportunities we wouldn’t have. Look for possibilities. Think big and exciting thoughts. By thinking big you might discover that some things really aren’t difficulties.

Pray big prayers because we have a big God. Small prayers are usually only backed by small faith. If you expect difficulty, often you actually get it: maybe because you have a defeatist attitude and never give yourself whole heartedly to the situation.

People who aren’t defeated by difficulties aren’t because they don’t think they are.

So don’t think you are!