The Hope QuotientSample

Hope-killers are like alligators. Just one can kill you. Worry is a deadly hope-killer. It’s utterly worthless. Worry can’t change the past. It can’t control the future. All it does is make you miserable today.

Worrying has been connected to high blood pressure, heart trouble, blindness, migraines, thyroid malfunctions, and a host of stomach disorders. No wonder Jesus, in his first major sermon called the “Sermon on the Mount,” said more about worry than prayer, giving, fasting, or any other issue. Read it!

Coming out of a dysfunctional family, I was good at worrying when I became a Christian. I worried about grades, finances, health, whatever. You name it, I could stress out about it. 

I finally broke the grip of fear and anxiety with a simple pattern. Every night before I went to bed, I sat in a chair and reread the verse, “Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.” Then I would think of the issues around me and say, “God, that’s Yours. That’s Yours. That’s Yours . . .” Then I’d finish, “You have to handle this stuff. I’m going to bed.”

That simple pattern broke the grip of anxiety and stress in my life that I thought was impossible to break. Try it.

One huge source of anxiety is regret. Some people have rearview mirrors that are bigger than their car windshields. Rearview mirrors are good for driving, bad for living.

Some people spend their entire lives in regret. “I wish this person hadn’t done that to me.” “I wish my parents had done this.” “I wish I had done that.” That isn’t even living. 

Looking back is a terrible strategy for developing your gifts and pursuing your dreams. Looking back and comparing rather than looking ahead and dreaming devastates hope.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell was once asked if he had regrets. He said, “What would I regret? Regrets slow you down. I never log, count, or inventory my regrets, I move on.”

Think Up:

Anxiety won’t just weaken your life; it will shorten it. Let it go.

That stuff in your rearview mirror? Let it go. (Read on).