Pastor Rick Warren: Why Stressed? Over-worked or Over-worried?

“Never worry about anything” (Philippians 4:6 GW).

You may think that you’re stressed out because you have too much work to do. You may think your boss is unreasonable. You may be right.But that’s not why you’re stressed.

Work doesn’t stress us out. Worry does.

Work doesn’t keep us up at night. Worry does.

You’re probably not overworked. You’re very likely over-worried.

God doesn’t mince words in the Bible about what he thinks about worry. He says, “Never worry about anything” (Philippians 4:6 GW). Do you see any wiggle room in that verse? I don’t. You won’t find any exceptions.

Never worry about anything.

It’s about as big of a blanket statement as you can possibly make.

When it comes to worrying, just don’t do it. That’s what the Bible says. But God also tells us there is something we can do with our worry instead.

First Peter 5:7 says, “Leave all your worries with him, because he cares for you” (TEV).

I love that word unload, because in the original Greek the verse literally says to just drop it. It’s not like you’re throwing a baseball or throwing a rock across the lake. It just says to unload it—let it go.

It won’t do you any good to hang on to what you’re worried about. Why not let it go?

Talk It Over

  • What worries seem to ensnare you most easily?
  • What do you fear might happen if you stop worrying about what keeps you up at night?
  • What are some ways you can build a habit of unloading your worries onto God? What people in your life can listen as you share your concerns?

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.

Your Daily Prayer: A prayer of praise and thanksgiving

A Prayer of Praise and Thanksgiving – Your Daily Prayer – November 19, 2018

Your Daily Prayer Devotional Banner

A Prayer of Praise and Thanksgiving
By: Tim Brister

Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, LORD, preserve both people and animals. Psalm 36:5-6

This prayer is taken from a collection Puritan prayers and devotions in a book called The Valley of Vision (highly recommended). It is almost always at my side in my personal devotion and study. This prayer/meditation has been pressed on me in recent days… Often I find the prayers of such a Puritan expressing my heart in a more suitable manner than I ever could. Meditating on such little prayers often causes one to find more “meat” for thought than most sermons today. O for ten thousand tongues to sing of the ten thousand pleasures He brings!

O My God,

Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects,
my heart admires, adores, loves thee,
for my little vessel is as full as it can be,
and I would pour out all that fullness before thee
in ceaseless flow.

When I think upon and converse with thee
ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,
ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,
ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,
crowding into every moment of happiness.

I bless thee for the soul thou hast created,
for adorning it, sanctifying it,
though it is fixed in barren soil;
for the body thou has given me,
for preserving its strength and vigour,
for providing sense to enjoy delights,
for the ease and freedom of my limbs,
for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding;
for thy royal bounty providing my daily support,
for a full table and overflowing cup,
for appetite, taste, sweetness,
for social joys of relatives and friends,
for ability to serve others,
for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,
for a mind to care for my fellow-men,
for opportunities of spreading happiness around,
for loved ones in the joys of heaven,
for my own expectation of seeing thee clearly.

I love thee above the powers of language to express,
for what thou art to thy creatures.
Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity.

SIU surges past Howard in second half, 83-69

Next Game:
vs. UMass
11/22/2018 | 12:30 p.m. CT
FS1
Saluki Sports Network
Box Score

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Southern Illinois men’s basketball team outscored Howard by 20 in the second half en route to a 83-69 win over Howard on Monday night at SIU Arena. SIU held Howard scoreless for more than five minutes in a 16-0 run early in the second half to earn the win. 

SIU (2-2), coming off a wire-to-wire win two days ago against Arkansas Pine Bluff, looked like it might cruise to another easy victory after pulling out to a quick 11-point lead less than eight minutes into the game. But SIU committed 15 first-half turnovers, and Howard’s Charles Williams made it hurt with 21 first-half points on 7-for-13 shooting. Williams led a 19-0 run for Howard (4-1) that saw the high-powered Bison take a 39-33 lead into the break.

“There were two of them that we were all over him (Williams) and he just made shots,” SIU head coach Barry Hinsonsaid. “I don’t say this sarcastically: it’s really fun to see a player get into the zone.”

SIU senior guard Marcus Bartley scored 18 points on an incredibly efficient 6-for-7 shooting, and he also led the second-half defensive effort against Williams. After Williams hit three 3-pointers in the final 2:29 of the first half, Bartley blanketed him to start the second half and held him to only one 3-point attempt in the first eight minutes of the half, which Williams missed. In that time, Southern’s offense went on a 24-7 run to turn a six-point halftime deficit into an 11-point lead.

“Marcus has taken the approach that he wants to be a defensive player,” Hinson said. “He is tired of people telling him he’s not a defensive player. You see what he’s done the last two games. It’s pretty impressive.”

The exclamation point on that stretch was a 16-0 SIU run in which the Salukis held Howard without a point for more than five minutes. Howard entered the game undefeated at 4-0, having just beaten UMass on the road, and averaging 97 points per game. 

Six different players put up double-figure numbers in at least one statistical category. Bartley (18), Sean Lloyd Jr.(17) and Darius Beane (12) all scored in double figures. Both starting big men, Kavion Pippen (11) and Thik Bol (10) had double-figure rebounds; and point guard Aaron Cook set a career high with 10 assists. 

Beane’s 12 points came on 5-of-7 shooting and was on the heels of an eight-rebound, four assist game on Saturday against Arkansas Pine Bluff.

“I’ve said this all along: I think he’s going to be a special player,” Hinson said of Beane. “He’s coming into his own. When we talk about fast, Darius BeaneEric McGill and Aaron Cook are three of the fastest cats you’re going to find in college basketball.”

Hinson opened his emotional post-game press conference with the tragic news that a relative of assistant coach Anthony Beane Sr. and Darius Beane had been killed in a Chicago shooting earlier in the day.

“I would like for our fans to keep that family and the other family members in their prayers,” he concluded. (Watch head coach Barry Hinson‘s postgame press conference on YouTube)

UP NEXT: The Salukis face UMass at 12:30 p.m. CT on Thanksgiving Day in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Invitational. SIU will face either Tulsa or No. 6 Nevada on Friday, depending on first-round results. Both games will be televised nationally on FS1.

One-quarter of new jobs in Illinois were in the government

In what one analyst called an alarming trend, nearly one-quarter of jobs created in the past year in Illinois were government positions.

Here’s a link to the story at Illinois News Network.

‘A heartless act’: Marion mall set to close less than 10 days before Christmas

MARION — The announcement that the long-beleaguered Illinois Star Centre Mall will finally be closing its doors came quietly Friday.

Here’s a link to the story at the Southern Illinoisan.

Editorial: And now, a massacre at Mercy Hospital

This time the bloodshed that indelibly stains Chicago violated this city’s first chartered hospital, a haven and healer that’s given life for 166 years. We’ll likely learn more in coming days about the why of this massacre on a Monday. For now, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s characterization will suffice: What took the lives of innocents at Mercy Hospital — one of them a Chicago police officer — is the face and the consequence of evil.

Here’s a link to the editorial at the Chicago Tribune.

Chicago mayor’s race: Who is in, who is out and who is still thinking about it

With the Nov. 26 filing deadline to get on the ballot approaching (the election is Feb. 26), the race to replace Mayor Rahm Emanuel is wide open.

Here’s a link to the story at the Chicago Tribune.

Officer slain at Mercy Hospital, married and father of 3 young children, had been on force less than 2 years

Chicago police Officer Samuel Jimenez, who was fatally shot Monday afternoon, was quiet but serious, the kind of consistent and dedicated officer the department needs, commanders who knew him recalled.

Here’s a link to the story at the Chicago Tribune.

Nazareth parent accused of wearing his referee uniform, swaying IHSA football playoff game against Simeon

The father of a west suburban football player is accused of influencing the outcome of a recent game in favor of Nazareth Academy and is at the center of a lawsuit filed by groups associated with Simeon Career Academy against the Illinois High School Association.

Here’s a link to the story at the Chicago Tribune.

Chicago hospital shooting: A young cop, doctor, pharmacy resident and the gunman all die in Mercy Hospital attack

A Chicago police officer and two other people were killed in an attack at a South Side hospital Monday afternoon that sent medical personnel and police scrambling through halls, stairwells and even the nursery in search of victims and the shooter before he was found dead

Here’s a link to the story at the Chicago Tribune.

Benton, West Frankfort, Illinois News | Franklin County News