Recently in Worry Category

Do you ever find yourself staring at a to-do list on a Monday morning and wondering where to start? Yesterday morning I was like a deer staring into the headlights of a Mac truck. I had two books to edit, a house that needed cleaning, a pile of laundry that looked like a bed for a horse and a son, still on vacation who wanted to go swimming. If I'm not careful, I can get so overwhelmed that it sends me into a semi-comatose state where I think to myself, "I know what to do, I'll take a nap." Now, I have nothing against naps, I am a big fan of naps, but I only got up two hours earlier. So, I took a deep breath, a cup of coffee and I slipped out of the house onto the back patio and sat in my Father's presence. Psalm 46:10 reads, "Be still and know that I am God." The Hebrew root of, 'Be still' means-Let go! I used to think that verse was encouraging me be still in perfect silence until I attained some mystical knowledge of God. I found that very hard. Now I consciously bring everything I have to do and everyone I love to God and I let go. I let go of the stress of getting it all right or even done on time. I let go of my desire to be perfect and I stay there in the love of God until that joy is greater than anything that needs to get done. I pray that for you today. I don't know what your to-do list looks like but I pray that it pails in comparison to the awareness of how much you are loved by your heavenly Father.

It was early on a Sunday morning when I boarded my flight home to Dallas. I smiled at the woman who was already seated in my row but she didn't return the smile. She was a very striking woman that I imagined to be in her sixties. I thought, "She either just wants to be left alone or she is afraid to fly." As I watched her clutch the armrest for dear life I decided it was the latter. "Are you doing okay?" I asked. "I hate to fly," she said. "We'll be fine," I tried to assure her, "God will not take his eyes off us for one moment." She turned to look me full in the face. "Do you believe that?" she asked. "With every fiber of my being," I said. "Now I don't mean that bad things don't ever happen to those who love him, but I will not go one moment before my time. I have a race to run."

Tears began to form in her beautiful brown eyes and spill down her cheeks. "I've never thought of that before," she said. "I struggle with suffering. I don't understand why children die or plane crashes happen." "I don't either," I admitted, "some people finish their race in eighty years, others in eighty days, only God knows why."

We talked some more and as our flight was about to land I asked her what the purpose of her trip to California had been? "To meet you," she said. "I have no doubt now, it was to meet you."

What I saw again that day is how hungry people are to know that God loves them and is watching over them. If you know this outrageous love, don't miss a moment to shine. Perhaps you are one of the hungry ones. May I just say this; God loves you, as you are right now-don't waste another moment questioning that!

I looked at my to-do list today and had two more cups of coffee! I have to take Christian to basketball camp, pick up groceries for the next four days, do the laundry, get my nails done, pick Christian up from basketball camp, take him to get new school uniforms, cook dinner, go to my exercise class, take the dogs for a walk.... oh, and write a Blog!

Do you ever feel as if you fall into bed at night thinking, "I didn't really get anything significant done today, just the same old stuff I did yesterday."? As I lie in bed not sleeping I'm thinking about the fact that I have to leave for a conference in Ohio tomorrow and I haven't packed and I wonder if I got in enough of the right kind of groceries to tide my husband and son over until Sunday when I get home.

I don't think God designed us to carry the worry and stress that we drag with us through our days and into our nights. Jesus made that pretty clear, "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." Matthew 6:34 (The Message)

God promises us grace for this day, not for tomorrow. He says that when tomorrow comes there will be fresh grace for that day too. When I'm concentrating about what might happen in the next few days I'm not fully present in this moment. This is the day we have, it is a gift but if we forget that, we might miss it altogether. So my prayer for you today is that you would be acutely aware of the presence of God in every moment - no matter how long your to-do list is!

Our son, Christian and two of his friends decided that it would be fun to go to camp together this summer. It's about a two-hour drive from our home but Barry likes to leave so early that we could almost catch the last day of the previous camp. We stopped for lunch and we were still two hours early. Finally the gates opened and we drove in between all the hooting and hollering of the camp councilors welcoming the kids. We found Christian's cabin and in just a few moments both his friends joined us. I handed in his care packages and his allergy meds and after big hugs Barry and I set off home.

"Just think," Barry said, "we could see a different movie every night."

"I know, and we can go out for dinner to all the places we like," I added.

"And sleep late!" he said.

We looked at each other and unleashed at the same moment, "We just left our son in the middle of the woods with a bunch of strangers who say they are Christians but how do we know that!!!"

I am coming to realize that this whole being a parent thing will always tear at my heart. Christian is growing into a wonderful young man but we live in a crazy world and we don't know from one moment until the next what is going to happen to us or to those we love. When that reality hits me hard that's when I pull my heart back under the shelter of God's wings because he does know. He knows what will happen today and tomorrow and he has promised that he will be there. He has not promised that we will be spared from pain but that he will be present in the pain. One of my favorite words is, refuge. I love it because when applied to our lives, Christ is our refuge in any storm large or small. He is our safe haven, our sanctuary. I have six more days of Christian's camp to get through but you may have eighteen months of a son or husbands tour of duty to get through. If you are like me some days the load feels pretty light and you have a firm conviction that God is in control and watching out for those we love. But there are those other days, days when you are tired or discouraged and all the old fears come flooding back. What do you do on those days? This is what I do. I find a quiet place and in my mind I take Christian and I imagine that I am placing him right under the shelter of God's wings. It's hard to grasp on this side of heaven how held we are by the love of God if only we would lean back and find his wings are strong. I may have to imagine placing Christian there but the truth is that he is always there, I just have to remember. I pray today that you will know the peace of God, which passes our human grasp, and the love of Christ our Savior that would fill every space of doubt and fear.

Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

What a promise! This is an all-inclusive verse. Do not worry about ANYTHING.

Don't worry about the car payments, the house payments, the economy, your job or your health. Whatever is in your heart and mind, bring it to the Lord in prayer and in petition and do it with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is such an important part of the process because it speaks to trust and confidence.

When we take our prayer requests to God and then continue to worry, it is as if we are saying, "Thanks so much for stopping to listen to me, but I'm not so sure you can help." In our soul we sense the dissonance in that line of thinking. We believe that God is able to do what He says He will do. Why then is it so difficult to rest in this promise that Paul brings before the church of Philippi? Don't be anxious about anything!

I think our need for control interferes with our trust in God. Joy and control do not make good roommates. I struggle with this daily. I've always found it hard to delegate. I figure if I do something myself then I know it will be done and done the way I think it should be. This spills over into my relationship with Christ. Doing makes me feel as if progress is being made. But that's not necessarily so.

I have faced a number of situations that lacked closure. I see clearly that I have two choices. I can bring these to God and then spend the rest of the day trying to figure out how I can "make things happen". Or I can bring my requests before God's throne of grace with a prayer of thanksgiving and confidence in Him and wait in the Lord. The real difference is what happens in me after my initial prayer. If I make the first choice, I continue to worry and fret over the outcome. If I take the second route, the way by which Paul exhorts us to live, I come to an awesome promise. "The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

What a gift. The Word of God could not be clearer here. If we will relinquish control of our lives and place our trust in God with absolute confidence, the peace of God, which is beyond human understanding, will cover us, protecting our hearts and minds.

This is "true joy"! Joy that G.K. Chesterton called "the giant secret of the Christian."

Let go and trust Him today!

Sheila