{"id":336,"date":"2018-03-14T19:24:11","date_gmt":"2018-03-14T19:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplyfabulous\/?p=336"},"modified":"2018-03-14T19:24:11","modified_gmt":"2018-03-14T19:24:11","slug":"expectation-vs-worry-theres-big-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplyfabulous\/2018\/03\/expectation-vs-worry-theres-big-difference.html","title":{"rendered":"Expectation vs. Worry: There’s a BIG Difference"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few years ago, I came down with advanced adrenal fatigue.\u00a0 Or should I say… I didn’t so much “come down with it” as much as I ended<\/em> up with it.\u00a0 If you’re not familiar with what adrenal fatigue is exactly, it’s basically when your body gets stuck in “fight or flight” mode.\u00a0 It can happen for a variety of reasons, but they all usually involve immense and\/or prolonged stress on the body.<\/p>\n

For me, it was a string of back-to-back traumatic events.\u00a0 My body never caught a break for several years in a row and as a result, got stuck in emergency mode.\u00a0 There is no magic pill, however, to treat adrenal fatigue.\u00a0 It is only healed by making lifestyle changes – one of which, is to minimize stress.<\/p>\n

And you know what often goes hand-in-hand with stress?<\/p>\n

Worry<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Worry was pretty much a daily existence for me (and my mother too, who was also a worry-wart by nature).\u00a0 I would worry about everything under the sun – work, money, my health, my friends, my family, my dogs, the world.\u00a0 You name it, I worried about it.<\/p>\n

I think it was partly just habit (I didn’t know another way of life really existed) and part wanting to remain in control.\u00a0 That if I just worried about something enough<\/em>, maybe I could make it go my way.\u00a0 Or at least not be surprised when it didn’t.<\/p>\n

But the reality was, in the end, all it did was make me feel miserable.\u00a0 And didn’t actually change the outcome of anything one bit.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, over time, God has been working diligently to prune this behavior right out of me.\u00a0 I’m sure I will never be 100% worry-free (but thankfully, I don’t have to be), but I am MUCH better now than I used to be.<\/p>\n

And beyond that, I am now finally<\/em> starting to look forward to things the way God intended me to – with expectation<\/em>, not worry.<\/p>\n

See, expectation and worry are basically the same thing (or at least first cousins) – they both look forward to things that actually haven’t occurred yet.\u00a0 But, while worry focuses on all the worse-case scenarios that could happen, expectation focuses on all the amazing<\/em> things that could happen and the blessings that God may send into your life.<\/p>\n

Expectation is about waiting with hope, gratitude and joy.<\/p>\n

And the best way to enter into a state of expectation is to exit out<\/em> of worry.<\/p>\n

So, how do you do that?<\/p>\n

You put life back into God’s hands, where it belongs.\u00a0 You remember, that no matter what happens, He is with you.\u00a0 And you remember that worry, in and of itself, actually does nothing<\/em> to change a situation.<\/p>\n

It’s time to stop wallowing in worry and despair and start living with hope and expectation.\u00a0 “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control<\/em>” (2 Timothy 1:7 ESV).<\/p>\n

We have to learn to intentionally control our own thoughts (with the help of the Holy Spirit) and keep them rooted in truth, power, love and faith.<\/p>\n

And, because it is impossible to worry and pray at the same time… we need to remember to always pray.<\/p>\n

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you<\/em>” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few years ago, I came down with advanced adrenal fatigue.\u00a0 Or should I say… I didn’t so much “come down with it” as much as I ended up with it.\u00a0 If you’re not familiar with what adrenal fatigue is exactly, it’s basically when your body gets stuck in “fight or flight” mode.\u00a0 It can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":589,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[608,125,236,97,29,33,307,230,126,99,293,129,22,179,607,578,602,117,116,96,119,606],"class_list":["post-336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-abundance","tag-encouragement","tag-expectation","tag-faith","tag-fear","tag-god","tag-gratitude","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-jesus","tag-joy","tag-lies","tag-love","tag-peace","tag-pray","tag-prayer","tag-self-control","tag-thought-life","tag-thoughts","tag-trust","tag-truth","tag-worry"],"yoast_head":"\nExpectation vs. Worry: There's a BIG Difference - Simply Fabulous<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplyfabulous\/2018\/03\/expectation-vs-worry-theres-big-difference.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Expectation vs. Worry: There's a BIG Difference - Simply Fabulous\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A few years ago, I came down with advanced adrenal fatigue.\u00a0 Or should I say… I didn’t so much “come down with it” as much as I ended up with it.\u00a0 If you’re not familiar with what adrenal fatigue is exactly, it’s basically when your body gets stuck in “fight or flight” mode.\u00a0 It can…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplyfabulous\/2018\/03\/expectation-vs-worry-theres-big-difference.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Simply Fabulous\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-14T19:24:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jenn Baxter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Expectation vs. Worry: There's a BIG Difference - 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