By Heather Templeton
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
I never worry.
What I do is think.
Analyze.
Mull.
Play out each possible outcome over and over in my mind.
Sometimes I stew.
Perhaps I even fume a bit.
But I don’t ever worry …
… At least that’s what I like to tell myself.
And it’s obviously a complete and total fabrication.
It’s all worry, and I think to many of us, it can go unrecognized until it finally spills out and we allow the Lord to truly cleanse our hearts.
I don’t know about you, but this is one of the hardest commands in scripture for me.
Don’t worry about anything.
Instead, pray about everything.
Wow, Lord. Do you SEE my current situation? Do you grasp how desperate I am, notice the tears that have fallen, observe the nights I’ve laid away for hours and hours because my mind refuses to shut out the noise swirling around that threatens to overtake me? How can you expect me to NOT WORRY?
This is how I have felt lately. From the depths of my heart, I have cried out to the Lord and felt overwhelmed with life’s circumstances. I have allowed worry to creep its way in and set up shop. To unpack and get comfortable. To weave its lie into my very soul that somehow my fretting will make a difference. That it will stir the hand of the Lord quicker than if I simply rested in his presence and KNEW that he had it all worked out.
But that’s the funny thing.
We can’t see the ending, so the darkness threatens our comfort and rumbles until we cave under the weight of worry that we were never meant to bear.
I heard an analogy once that stuck with me. It was this: we are all at a parade. We see only what is right in front of us as it goes by. Nothing more. The Lord is perched above it all, and he sees the same parade from start to finish. He knows how it began, and he knows how it will end.
I’ve always loved this, as it gave me perspective on how great our God is.
Omnipotent.
Omnipresent.
All knowing and all seeing.
But I’d like to add something.
He’s not just up in the sky, watching as the parade goes by. He is actively managing the very facets of what happens each and every day of our lives, and he care more deeply about each passing moment than any of us can comprehend. He is always working things out for the good. Always.
So when worry threatens to overtake me, to overtake you, turn to the one who guards your very being with the blood of his precious Son.
He WILL give you peace.
It will pass all understanding.
And worry will have no place in the hearts and minds of we as God’s beloved children.
Treasured so deeply.
Loved so extravagantly.
Guarded by the very One who holds the stars.
Grace Enough 