A song of great encouragement, but have you ever found yourself worrying while praying or worrying right through a prayer only to end the prayer still in a state of worry? I have, over and over again.
I know that I am not the only Christian in the world who does this. In fact, during a small group meeting a few days ago an elderly gentleman teased his wife as he told us, "If you need someone to worry about something for you, just tell it to my wife and she will worry for you." I laughed, but could relate to her at the same time.
I am in the middle of a time of "concern" as I type. Yes, by concern I mean worry. It is one of those things where my "hands seemed tied". There's not a thing that I can do to change the circumstance or make a difference in the direction it takes. Stuck!
As I wondered though the house the other day, I found myself praying for peace. I knew that I could do nothing and that worry was just making me feel physically ill. I knew that I was in sin for worrying, so I prayed. Instead of an instant feeling of peace, the Holy Spirit brought a verse to mind.
Psalms 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God"
The thing that I love about this this verse coming to mind was the fact that while I was praying for peace, God was telling me to "be still".
Have you ever told your child to "be still". It brought to my mind authority, the kind of authority that only comes with experience and confidence that all will be fine, so "sit still and wait".
Wow! That is peace, when God says to you, "It's alright, I got this. Sit still and wait." Can you see now why I used the picture of the little guy asleep amidst the hustle and bustle of a busy area. I liked the image of rest, a lack of worry that comes with knowing someone else is in charge and you you can rest in that fact.
Jesus addressed the topic of worry while He was on this earth. He knows that we are frail in this human state and He addressed it with the crowds as well as His disciples. Why? Beside knowing our weaknesses He also wants us to know that there is hope. He is that hope. He is our Hope. He wants us to turn to Him and to turn our worries, fears, and frustrations over to His care and to trust Him to handle it all, His way and in His time.
So what does Jesus say?
Read thought these passages as you pray and ask God to take the worry that you dealing with and to bring peace, or a sense of "be still" and then release it to Him to deal with in His way and in His time.
Matthew 6:25-34
Luke 12:22-32
One last thing, Psalms 4:8 "In peace I will both lie down and sleep: for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."
I used to live next door to a lady who was the neighborhood worrier. We all knew we could tell her something and she would worry for us. Generally, I'm not a worrier but sometimes it gets the better of me. Worries seem to come piling in as I climb into bed. Psalms 4:8, along with a few others, are written on a card by my bed. If I read them, I find peace and I go to sleep.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sherry for sharing. I think it helps that we, as Christian women, realize that others are struggling with worry (or any other sin) and are finding victory over it with God's help.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the encouragement!