weight of worry

Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.

Proverbs 12:25 NLT

Have you ever worn ankle weights at the gym? Suddenly even a task like walking takes extra effort. When considering your worries, picture yourself as a person with ankle weights who has never worked out. Worry does nothing but add heaviness to your life. When you take into consideration that we are called to run a race, it is significantly more difficult to run with our ankles carrying weights. The solution seems to be right in this verse, but sometimes we find ourselves in seasons where an encouraging word from the outside seems scarce.

The election may have been such a season as this, for you.

You may not have been able to raise that White Flag just yet.

It’s okay.

The Psalmist had many of these lonely seasons, and he turned his worries into praise. He never ignored the problem at hand but used the problem as an opportunity to pray. After his problem is laid out, and sometimes even before, he turns it into a time of praise that encourages his soul and sets him free from the weights. The Psalmist did not have minor struggles. He was betrayed by friends, chased by enemies, and lost his infant son. Just like the Psalmist, free yourself today from the weight of worry and transform it into praise!