Canceling Your Subscription to “WorryFlix” (Feature Friday)

FROM THE MAY/JUNE 2018 ISSUE OF CHERISHED MAGAZINE

Whenever I get bored, it’s really easy for me to pull up one of my streaming subscription services and watch an entire season of some show all at once. On streaming media, there always something to watch, and I don’t have to work that hard to watch it.

I’ve realized my worry battle was a lot like streaming media. There was always something for me to worry about, and I didn’t have to work at worrying because one worry naturally followed another.  Then, it occurred to me that my worrying worked a lot like my streaming media. So, I began to refer to my worrying as watching “WorryFlix.”

WorryFlix movies are those mental movies that I create in mind when I’m anxious about uncertainty in my life.

What if my kids get into an accident? What if my marriage struggles? What if we aren’t financially secure in the future?  When we’re not sure about the future, our mind will make up a story or movie that reflects our fears coming true. Like a Hallmark Christmas movie, once you start watching WorryFlix in your mind, it’s hard to stop.

But, unlike a Hallmark movie, there are no happy endings on my WorryFlix channel. The only two endings are bad and sad.

For example, when my kids were born, my WorryFlix mental movies ran non-stop about my kids suffocating in their cribs. Can you relate to that one? That movie ran through my mind non-stop, and I lost so much sleep, even though my babies slept peacefully in their bassinets.

When my kids got older and began playing outside, my WorryFlix mental movies ran episode after episode of them getting kidnapped. During those mental movies, I saw myself running barefoot down the street after the car driving away with my child, but I couldn’t stop them. As a result, I only let my kids play in the backyard, never in the front yard alone.

Just the thought of my kids getting their driver’s licenses would start a WorryFlix movie in my mind. I think that I’ve had some Oscar-worthy performances in a few of those mental movies. How many times did I imagine my kids driving and getting into car accidents? And those mental movies seemed so real! I could feel my heart racing as I ran toward the accident scene. Real tears flowed down my face as I saw myself screaming. I could see the police officers holding me back as the paramedics worked to save my dying child.

What kind of WorryFlix movies have you been watching lately? Are you tired of those horrible mental movies and their affect on your life?

WorryFlix steals the best and precious moments of our lives, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Are you ready to stop watching WorryFlix and allow God to cancel your subscription?

Here are three things that we must do in order to cancel WorryFlix and allow God to give us victory over worry in our lives:

1. Remember God’s promises. Grab your Bible and look up the verses that testify to God’s peace and provision. If you need a few verses, use these: Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:7, Matthew 6:33, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Psalm 29:11.

2. Remember God is always with you! Whenever we watch WorryFlix, God is usually not a part of our tragic storyline. But, your WorryFlix can flip over to FaithFlix when you add God to your story. Whenever your worry, invite God into the storyline by saying, “God, I know that You are here and I am not alone. I don’t have to be afraid!” Romans 8:39 reminds us that there is nothing we will face in life that God cannot overcome.

3. God will give you the strength to endure. In our WorryFlix movies, we see ourselves as victims and helpless, which is the opposite of God’s promises to us. 1 Timothy 1:7 (NLT) tells us: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.” Trying to imagine your situation and see yourself living out God’s promises even in the midst of your struggle. See yourself walking by God’s promises and trusting in God’s provision.

As long as you face uncertainty in life, worry will always try to creep into your mind. However, you are not ever powerless against it! When you remember these three powerful principles, you can cancel your subscription to WorryFlix whenever worry tries to start playing in your mind.

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PS – I don’t know about you but I can totally relate to what Barb is saying in her article!  Ever have a problem with running that “Worryflix” channel in your mind?  Read more from Barb in her book: 

Winning the Worry Battle: Life Lessons from the Book of Joshua (aff link)