It's easier said than done. "Don't worry," they tell you. Right. That's a lot like telling water, "Don't run down hill." Just like gravity, worry seems to be a natural force of nature over which we have no control. Be assured, worry is a force. It has the power to consume you. It can raise your blood pressure, give you sleepless nights, shape your thoughts, create a variety of other emotions and do incredible damage to your psyche. I know because it does that to me.
I know that Jesus said not to worry. I know that the Father clothes the lilies of the field more elaborately than Solomon. I know that He feeds the birds of the air. I even know that I'm more valuable than birds and that He has the hairs on my head numbered. I believe that. I am trying my best to seek first His Kingdom and His Righteous, and for the most part I believe that He has added things to my life. However, that doesn't seem to stop me from worrying.
Right now, my worries are of a personal nature. I'm worried about finances. I'm worried about if and where God wants to use me. I'm worried for my kids and their recent moves. I'm worried about my granddaughter. I'm worried about my aging mother who lives more than a day's drive from me. I'm worried about my own value and sanity. I'm worried because God seems silent to my prayers for directions.
I'm sure none of you have any such worries. I'm sure that it's easy for you to put aside your worries. I'm sure that your able to trust in God completely and any anxiety is washed away and things are right in your world. Okay, maybe not. Maybe you're like me. You get depressed and frustrated and angry and melancholy. You can't see God working in your situation even though you pray and pray and pray. You read your Bible and go to church, but nothing seems to be resolving the issue of your worry. Then you feel guilty for worrying or worse unworthy of God's attention. You start to wonder if God really cares. Maybe He's punishing you for something in your past. Maybe He really doesn't exist.
I don't know about you, but I find that worry gets the better of me when I realize that I have no control whatsoever. I can't make things happen. I can't make things go away. I can't speed time up to see the future or make it go backward and change things that might correct my predicament. I'm not a very patient person, so waiting for things to resolve or even to give God time to work things out His way only exacerbates my worry.
Another observation I've made when I'm consumed with worry is that I become pretty self absorbed. I can really only see things that deal with me and my situation. It's not that I'm incapacitated completely that is, but my tunnel vision comes back again and again making it hard to relax, enjoy life and other people.
I keep going back and reading this passage out of Luke 12. I hear the words. I memorize the words, but somehow I can't seem to make my worry go away. I ask myself, "Don't you believe that God is big enough to handle your issues?" "Hasn't He handled things for you in the past?" "Aren't you being selfish?" "Don't others have a lot worse things than you?
I realize that this is an exercise in faith. I recognize that I really don't have control of the world or people or events around me. I can't make anyone do what I want or anything happen the way that I want. It forces me to live in a total dependent state. Faith also isn't about getting what I want or living without hardship. It's about living in those uncertain, uncontrollable times when you can't see a positive resolution anytime soon.
God, Help! I feel lost and abandoned. Can't you show me a pillar of fire to follow or open a Red Sea before me? Can't you speak to me from a burning bush or any bush for that matter? Can't you throw a little manna my way? I confess that worry has seized me. Please release me from this worry bout! I'm doing my best to trust you, to rest in you, to seek You and Your Kingdom. I need your reassurance. I need to see your hand move in my behalf. I need to feel your presence upon me and around me. Help me to keep moving toward you and strengthen my belief. Show me the path to take. Open the doors before me and close the ones behind me.
I know that Jesus said not to worry. I know that the Father clothes the lilies of the field more elaborately than Solomon. I know that He feeds the birds of the air. I even know that I'm more valuable than birds and that He has the hairs on my head numbered. I believe that. I am trying my best to seek first His Kingdom and His Righteous, and for the most part I believe that He has added things to my life. However, that doesn't seem to stop me from worrying.
Right now, my worries are of a personal nature. I'm worried about finances. I'm worried about if and where God wants to use me. I'm worried for my kids and their recent moves. I'm worried about my granddaughter. I'm worried about my aging mother who lives more than a day's drive from me. I'm worried about my own value and sanity. I'm worried because God seems silent to my prayers for directions.
I'm sure none of you have any such worries. I'm sure that it's easy for you to put aside your worries. I'm sure that your able to trust in God completely and any anxiety is washed away and things are right in your world. Okay, maybe not. Maybe you're like me. You get depressed and frustrated and angry and melancholy. You can't see God working in your situation even though you pray and pray and pray. You read your Bible and go to church, but nothing seems to be resolving the issue of your worry. Then you feel guilty for worrying or worse unworthy of God's attention. You start to wonder if God really cares. Maybe He's punishing you for something in your past. Maybe He really doesn't exist.
I don't know about you, but I find that worry gets the better of me when I realize that I have no control whatsoever. I can't make things happen. I can't make things go away. I can't speed time up to see the future or make it go backward and change things that might correct my predicament. I'm not a very patient person, so waiting for things to resolve or even to give God time to work things out His way only exacerbates my worry.
Another observation I've made when I'm consumed with worry is that I become pretty self absorbed. I can really only see things that deal with me and my situation. It's not that I'm incapacitated completely that is, but my tunnel vision comes back again and again making it hard to relax, enjoy life and other people.
I keep going back and reading this passage out of Luke 12. I hear the words. I memorize the words, but somehow I can't seem to make my worry go away. I ask myself, "Don't you believe that God is big enough to handle your issues?" "Hasn't He handled things for you in the past?" "Aren't you being selfish?" "Don't others have a lot worse things than you?
I realize that this is an exercise in faith. I recognize that I really don't have control of the world or people or events around me. I can't make anyone do what I want or anything happen the way that I want. It forces me to live in a total dependent state. Faith also isn't about getting what I want or living without hardship. It's about living in those uncertain, uncontrollable times when you can't see a positive resolution anytime soon.
God, Help! I feel lost and abandoned. Can't you show me a pillar of fire to follow or open a Red Sea before me? Can't you speak to me from a burning bush or any bush for that matter? Can't you throw a little manna my way? I confess that worry has seized me. Please release me from this worry bout! I'm doing my best to trust you, to rest in you, to seek You and Your Kingdom. I need your reassurance. I need to see your hand move in my behalf. I need to feel your presence upon me and around me. Help me to keep moving toward you and strengthen my belief. Show me the path to take. Open the doors before me and close the ones behind me.
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