What? Me Worry?

There's a lot going on in life isn't there?  I'm preparing for a week long trip with middle schoolers and high schoolers. Mollie can tell you that the day before a retreat is always a terrible day. I'm so completely stressed that I make life miserable for everyone. 

Do you ever get that way? Do you ever become so stressed that people don't like being around you?

I do. That's why I'm sitting by myself at a local coffee shop with a large coffee writing my thoughts out. Alone. I brought a book too. It's called "The Christian Atheist: Believing in God, but Living as If He Doesn't Exist".  You can see the cover of the book right here. 

It's a very good book. (I'm looking to teach a series on it in the fall) I'd recommend getting it. 

But today I was sitting here reading and the chapter was about Worry. I'm a worrier. It's weird. When something is on my mind it will overwhelm me to the point that I can't handle it anymore. I sit and worry. I stand and worry. I pace and worry. When my kids are teenagers I'm in trouble. 

But today's chapter talked about worrying. In a sense it said the following

Worrying is when you don't trust in God. 

Excess of Worry means lack of Faith.

Ouch. That's me. Is it you? 

Do you find yourself consumed with worry when something goes wrong. Perhaps you have a deadline. Perhaps someone you love has cancer? Maybe you don't have enough money to pay the bills. There's a lot we can worry about. But what good does that do?

Jesus asks in the Bible, "How can worrying add time to your life?" Good point Jesus. But worrying is ingrained in my life. It's my nature to worry. 

Phil 4:6-7 says the following:

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

In other words EVERY time you think about something and begin to worry. Take it to God and pray about it. Pray about the issue. Pray about how you are worried. Ask God for that peace. Do this OVER AND OVER AND OVER, every time you worry. See what God does. See how God works. 

When we can take things to God, we can begin to let them go. 

I pray that worry will not overwhelm your lives. I pray that you will be able to let go and let God deal with it. I pray that you can lead a changed life that trusts God in everything. That's my prayer for you today.