Breaking the Worry Habit . . . Forever

Breaking the Worry Habit…Forever! is the latest book by one of my favorite Christian women authors, Elizabeth George. I love her books, the way she speaks, the way she builds and encourages her readers up. Her ministry to women appeals to me and I was so delighted to take a crack at her latest work.

This book deals with the concept of worrying, should that not have been tremendously obvious to you. It is subtitled, “God’s Plan for Lasting Piece of Mind.” What sets this book apart from most of Mrs. George’s other books, was that about half of it is her writing and “speaking” to the reader. The second half is entitled, “Digging Deeper” and is a study guide to compliment the first half. Since most of her books include a seperate study guide, I was a little surprised to find this one in this particular format. However, that would also be a pleasant discovery to someone who makes a point of buying any book’s accompanying study guide. This one comes included!

In Breaking the Worry Habit, Mrs. George hits on a variety of topics that can cause individual women stress, from health issues, money concerns, and relational difficulties. And for every chapter that she devotes to any particular subject, I’m certain that there can be or is another book that would compliment the subject well! Broken down, the bottom line message of Mrs. George’s book is that we must learn to “be anxious for nothing” but trust in God for our needs and concerns. She offers scriptures based on worry, as well as lays out Biblical examples of people in scripture who faced trying situations and shows how they handled it. For me, I particularly “enjoyed” the chapter on breaking through worries relating to “what people might think” of any of my decisions or actions. It is easy for me to get caught up in how I might appear to others or what my beliefs might be showcased as. I try really hard to be accurate in my statements and actions before others but frequently I fail and then I worry that I’ve been misinterpreted. This book was a hearty reminder that I need to not look at what men tend to think, rather I need to focus on what is pleasing to God. (I’ve talked about being a God-pleaser or a people-pleaser before.) This is one of my own struggles and it was good to hear her message.

Even still, if you tend to be a worry wart, although you will find this book helpful it will not be your savior. HEARING what we need to do and actually DOING it are two entirely separate issues and this book is no exemption to that rule. In order to truly break the worry habit, one must truly rely on Christ to be able to meet their needs. That is admittedly far easier said than done! This book definitely provides some motivation and hope but ultimately, it is a personal decision as to whether one will choose to continue worrying or not. I can’t say that I’ve made up my mind what I shall do because as stressful as worrying is, it is also a fun self indulgence (which I do not believe to be a good thing). It is hard to surrender worries. However, I am grateful for the sound advice of Elizabeth George.

Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know.