Do you ever have one of those times when God seems to relentlessly confront you with a theme or issue? When your study of the Bible, sermons you hear, and conversations with friends come together in such a way that it leaves you thinking, “OK, I get it. This is something I need to deal with.”
Lately, that theme for me has been
Worry.
James 4. Matthew 6. Luke 12. These passages remind me that worrying is never acceptable. Why? Because God is good and all-knowing. He knows what I need before I ask, and as a loving Father he will provide. Because “running after these things [“stuff,” essentially]” is futile. Because my life is a vapor and I don’t know what tomorrow will hold. Because intimacy with God is much more important than having pleasant circumstances.
God has further reinforced this theme through a book called “Loving God With All Your Mind” by Elizabeth George; there’s a great section called Winning over Worry. In the most recent meeting of the small group I lead at the university, we watched and discussed this video, which is a powerful illustration about our tendency to be discontent. The last line is quite poignant and reminds us to focus on the Giver, not the gift.
So rather than freak out about where I am going to live and how I’m going to get a job, or about how a friend seems to continually make destructive decisions, or about how I’m going to stretch my last paycheck over two unpaid months in Colombia, or really a whole host of “concerns,” that constantly invade my mind-----I’m asking the Lord to help me grow in trusting Him. I haven’t found the “secret” yet, but I do know that it’s a moment-by-moment process of letting go of my worry (and desire to control my life) and resting in God’s leadership and provision.
