What Are You Worried About? Let the Evidence Speak

Good day, Purposeful Hearts! How’s it going? What’s on your mind lately? Perhaps you’re one of the lucky few who’s experiencing a season of calm – a relaxed schedule, manageable responsibilities, and reduced pressures. OR . . . it’s more likely that you’ve joined the throngs of people with jam-packed calendars and an overstimulated headspace.

If you fall into the second category, what are you doing to manage your stress and keep your cool? How do you handle the temptation to worry in the midst of chaos?

 

Today, I’d like to offer a word of encouragement that might help you cope with your worry. We’re going to practice letting the evidence of your life speak about the worry that creeps into the blank spaces in your schedule and your mind.

 

For all of the time I’ve spent worrying in the past, I can look back on each of those “worrisome” events and see that they turned out fine. What God ordained (which is always good!) is exactly what happened. Que sera, sera, right? With each event, the plot thickened, conversations occurred, time passed, events were over, hearts healed, memories faded, and I moved forward IN SPITE OF my worry. Indeed, my worry had been an unnecessary ingredient the whole time!

 

Let’s find our best comfort and guidance in the words of Matthew 6:25-27: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Boom. That cuts right to the core, doesn’t it? Not only is my worry completely ineffective at changing the course of life, but it can also be harmful!

 

Matthew continues in verse 34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” How have I not become more skilled at letting each day worry about itself, even after realizing that life continues whether I worry about it or not!

Purposeful Hearts, let’s refresh our energy toward having a childlike trust in God to work in the details of our lives. Let’s let the evidence of our past remind us that the projects were finished, the tasks complete, the conflict resolved – and we moved on. Instead of the passive act of worry, let’s replace it with an active sense of agency in our lives – just doing the next right thing, releasing our stress, and leveraging the power of prayer!