The Pride of Worry

Pride is a grotesquely evil monster that lurks in the depths of our hearts, waiting for moments to leap to the surface of our lives and reveal its wickedness through us.  It is vile, both for its lure and its propensity to mask itself behind veil's of confidence or insecurity.  As a result, pride has a variety of guises it employs within us to conceal its sinfulness.  These guises make pride look like other sins, like greed or vanity, but at the heart it is still but simple pride.

One such facade worn by pride is worry.  Worry, or anxiety, can be basically reduced to fear.  Fear of the unknown, fear of the weight of the circumstance, or a general uneasiness with the state of affairs are all examples of worry but they all stem from the same, somewhat complex principal: a feeling that we are not totally in control of the situation, however, if we were in control, if we had the necessary power to handle the present context, we would be able to make everything okay.

Needless to say, this proposition is a fallacy and is untrue for several reasons.  The first is the fallacy of control.  No human has control over anything but whether they will have faith in God or not.  To choose to believe God or not is the grand extent of our control.  Any feeling that humans have control beyond this is simply false.

The second issue deals with power.  Because every morsel of our power and strength is derived and given from God, to wish for the power to handle the situation means that we believe that the One who currently has the power, i.e. God, is either not qualified for the job or simply incompetent to handle the situation.  Quickly the prideful root of worry comes to the surface once the veneer is wiped away.

Additionally, worry's prideful head rears itself in two opposing but equally sinful ways.  These two ways can be summarized by the two reasons people worry, void of whether they know it or not: people either worry that their issues are far too small for God to care about, or the inverse, they think their issues are far too big for God to be able to handle.  The latter reeks of unbelief and pride, while the former smacks of a small faith and false humility.

There are many Scriptures to note in this discussion, perhaps the chief among them being Matthew 6:25-34 and 1 Peter 5:6-7.  In both cases, the exhortation is clear: cast your fears and worries upon the Lord, who both desires to care for us and is capable to do it.  Relying on God, wholly depending on Him in faith can overcome any worry and anxiety we could have, and should be how we deal with worry.

Again, remember that the root of worry is pride, so the inverse of worry must be humility, the essence of worship.  The conclusion must be, then, that worship triumphs over worry.  Worry should prompt worship so that pride's slithery head is sliced off like the lurking serpent it is.  Let us refuse to be prideful in anxiety or worry and strive to worship God!