3 Things To Do When You’re Tempted to Worry-By David Bowers

Don’t Worry Be Happy: Song by Bobby McFerrin

 God’s word has something to say about worry:

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34 NIV)

Yet despite these words, we still worry. I worry if it’s going to rain, if I’ve said the right thing, how my kids will turn out, or where my son is at midnight when he should be home. I’ve spent many sleepless nights doing the worrying game, with little to show for it, other than being grumpy and tired the next day.

A year ago I was diagnosed with squamous cell skin cancer. It had started as a small area that a doctor had biopsied and the wound had grown from the size of a pencil eraser to the size of a quarter, then to 1-1/2 by 2 inch area that wouldn’t heal. Due to my skin graphs, poor circulation, and the cultured skin, it’s not uncommon for me to have a wound that struggles to heal. By the time it had gotten bigger than a quarter, we were reaching out to our doctor and thought we would get it under control.

We found that the wound was growing because it was infected. After a period of time we found that we were just swapping one infection for another, and after a failed attempt at a non-surgery procedure, we were left with the only option of having a surgery to place a skin graph over it from my ankle. By this point it was a large 2″ by 3″area.  We found out on a Friday at a follow up appointment that the biopsy had revealed it was cancerous so that graph would fail and we would need to have the tumor removed.

With our three hour drive home we had plenty of time to start worrying.  Then we had time all weekend long to worry before we could even start looking into answers and options.

How big or deep was the tumor? Would I be able to keep my leg? Had the cancer spread? Did I need to write down any requests for a funeral?

The things to worry about were endless.

After a whirlwind couple of weeks of testing, surgery to remove it and clear margins around the tumor, we were left only to worry till the next full body scan to see if the cancer would show up somewhere else.

Throughout this time, I have been tempted to worry but have not been overwhelmed. How on earth does that happen? I’m not completely sure. I like to blame it on short term memory loss from the accident, but I know that’s not the case. Here are three ways I have found to combat the temptation to worry:

1. Stay Busy. We constantly have things to do; our plate always seems to stay overflowing. When I’m busy I don’t have time to dwell on the “what if’s”.

2. Serve Others. It’s amazing how thinking of others’ needs before your own takes your mind off your worry. Throughout our journey we have found that our hearts are most at peace when we are serving the people around us.

3. Stay in God’s Word. I can give myself a mental pep talk all day long, but in reality the only thing that truly speaks to my troubled heart is God’s word. I know that it is truth, and not just something I am telling myself out of emotion or fear. Here is a verse I often preach to myself:

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:13-15 NIV)

We go back in a few weeks for our one year check-up, do I worry? Yes, every time I have a new ache, a new pain, or a new wound. But with God as my guide, the worry doesn’t consume me like it has before.

So now, “Don’t worry be happy”.