Have you ever woken up in the morning or in the middle of the night already worrying? It's as if you were worrying in your sleep!
I have, and apparently, we aren't alone. Research indicates that Americans are among the world's leaders in sleep deprivation. An estimated 50 to 70 million American adults have chronic sleep loss or a sleep disorder of some kind. Most sleep deprived Americans attribute their sleeplessness to anxiousness about something - finances being by far the most worried about topic.
Worry is always future oriented.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life..." ~Matthew 6:25
"Be on your guard so that your hearts will not be weighted down with...the worries of life" ~Luke 21:34
The Greek word translated "worry" here is merimnao. It is defined as to be anxious, to care for, to look out for to seek to promote one's interests.
Most of us don't think of our worries as 'seeking to promote our own interests." After all, most of us would say we are concerned about our families and our responsibilities.