What does the amount of time you spend worrying say about your faith in God?

Something I read

About four months ago I read a book review and a paragraph leaped out at me.

“… worry develops when reason edges out faith as the privileged source of knowledge. ‘The birth of worry,’ … is ‘the moment of a culture’s shift from unquestioning faith in omnipotent powers to thought or reasoning as the way of understanding human existence within the world.’” (Karen Swallow Prior’s review of Francis O’Gorman’s Worrying: A Literary and Cultural History. – Christianity Today, July 17, 2015)

I think that the change from trust in a providential, all powerful God to trust in our own abilities says a lot about the culture we live in. It also says a lot about individuals in our culture. We may live in the Church or publicly rejected it but when we face daily challenges we choose between trust in God and trust in ourselves.

Part of trusting God may include our own actions but the key point is which takes priority.

The book

A few minutes after reading and rereading the review a copy of the book was downloaded into my Kindle folder for books to read.

The author traced the history of worry in the literature for the last 200 years. He documented how worry became central as faith in God was lost. Near the end of the second chapter he even stated the faith in God is helpful even though is a false hope. There is no god. Worry is the truest, best response to most of what happens in our lives.

Philippians

It is revealing to compare O’Gorman’s views about life and literature with Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Even in this very positive letter Paul acknowledges that life has challenges. Christians disagree with each other and have a hard time working together. Life has many challenges. Paul’s concluding advice is to not be anxious but to pray. As we pray and trust God we receive peace in this complicated world. (Philippians 2:1-4; 3:12-21; 4:1-7)