It's that time again for my contribution for the Friday devotional and I love to share messages that resonate with me. As is generally the case, I am not a loss for what to share because I am constantly inspired by my nightly readings from any one of my devotional books, most of which have been given to me as presents. Tuesday night's subject from Sarah Young's "Dear Jesus" just happened to be on "worrying", and since that "used to be" a real issue for me at a time in my life when some would say I had "control" issues, I felt that maybe someone else out there reading this might have or had been affected by the "worry bug" . Well, I am here to tell you that one of the wonderful things about growing "older" (the term I prefer to use instead of "old") for me is that I simply don't worry about almost anything anymore, and I really can't explain it other than to say that this seems to be more about me having "let go of things" and trusting that they are going to work out according to God's plan, not mine anyway.
The author in last night's devotional said that she hated to admit it, but over the years, she always found time for worrying, and despite her best efforts, she had little success at finding anything productive coming of it. In fact, the worrying for her became almost "nonsensical" because she found herself "worrying about worrying". Is this ringing home with anyone yet? As pointed out, the solution is really fairly simple, and that is to stop focusing on the problems over which you're worrying and focus instead on putting your energy into communicating more with Him, our Creator and Savior. After all, doesn't He know the plan for your life and what's going to happen in it anyway? With all the worrying in the world, do we ever know what is going to happen at any time? I know that I now find it calming and reassuring just to know that I can talk (commune) to Him about my problems, not in a worrisome sense, but simply by expressing frustrations, fears, and concerns, for instance, and it seems to help.
Last night's selection offered us the reminder that Jesus died for "every one of our sins" and why would we think that He is unable to handle the stuff that we "churn our guts" about? Think about it. Has "your worrying" ever solved any of your problems, or has it done the opposite, and just made more since worrying tends to increase one' s anxieties, which can lead to all kinds of physical and medical issues? Since He gives us free will, we can choose to worry "if" we want to, but better yet, I think the answer lies in trusting that whatever we face has already been worked out by Him as part of His original plan for our lives.
"Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest." Luke 12:25-26; "An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up." Proverbs 12:25; "Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long." Psalm 25:4-5.
The one thing that I took most from the reading was that God wants us not to just talk to Him, but to listen to Him as well because He speaks to us through His Word, His Spirit, and His creation. If we do this, He promises that we will find our worrying time just goes away because it will have no place in our lives alongside of Him. Worth a try, don't you think?
Wishing you a very blessed weekend as we fellowship together in the name of our Creator, Lord, and Savior. If you do not have a church home, we invite you always to worship with us here at Grace Harbor Church on Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m. or at our new Thursday night service at 8:00 p.m. Remember Psalm 25:4-5 - "…say a kind word to cheer up someone who you can see needs it."
In His Name, Charlotte
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