Worry Action Step #3 - Keep a Journal

There’s nothing that helps keep me focused on just how involved God is in the details of my life than keeping a record of what’s going on, my prayers, how they are answered, and the action steps that I fee God is directing me to take. When I feel like God just isn’t listening, or I feel like I’m out there on my own, I look back and see how very involved He is in so many different aspects of my life.


This week, as my husband and I made the hour drive to meet our son at the hospital where the ambulance had delivered him after a snowboarding accident, I was feeling one of those alone moments. It’s easy to get caught up in “Why does this stuff always happen to us?” mode, and I felt myself slipping into that trap. Satan would love nothing more than to isolate me there in Woe Is Me World. God met me through friends and caring medical staff. He met my son through a skier from Florida, ski patrol and ambulance/ER staff. He met us through good weather and roads. Although my impulse was to worry about nerve damage with a shoulder injury… because I’d been down that road with my husband… He distracted me and allowed me to push that worry aside. He put an orthopedic surgeon on call that we knew and were very comfortable with. He gave Adam amazing nurses in the hospital… the list goes on and on.


By giving God our worries through prayer, and by writing down our prayers (and the answers given) we can see the power of God at work, which makes it easier to release the next worry to Him and trust that He will take care of us. We may not always see the answer, or it may not be what we anticipated. We live in a world where bad things happen, but God is with us through the good and bad times. Just because we are traveling through a bad time, doesn’t mean that God is not with us or is not using us.


Just as David trusted that God would take care of him and his men, so did Joseph, Moses, Job, Esther, Ruth, and so many others. The Bible gives us a lot of examples of people with different worries and challenges. God included these examples to show us how they trusted Him with their worries and allowed Him to provide for their needs. God also shows us examples of people who did not trust God and chose to worry and take matters into their own hands rather than trust. Just take a look at Haman, Saul, Sara, and Jona to name a few. These stories illustrate how messed up we can get ourselves when we let worry take over and control our decisions.


If I don’t write things down, so I can go back and see results, the business of life has me just moving from crisis to crisis… worry to worry… and I miss the opportunity to see and appreciate the ways in which God is providing for me and those I pray for. He is interested in the smallest of details and is working in so many directions at once… sometimes it is a person that He brings into my life years before I “need” that person, it might be a job/change of jobs, a move, or a broken down car that delays me and keeps me from being in the wrong place at the wrong time.


When I write things down, it helps me to see the bigger picture and find links between things that are seemingly unrelated. It allows me to trust that God is at work in the big picture through every detail, ripple and intersection. It’s bigger than my mind can handle or begin to understand, but I can let go and trust that God knows the big picture and how it all fits together.


May God grant you peace in your heart and the strength to let go of your worries!

Worry Action Step #2 – Pray About Your Worries

As I grab a cup of coffee and find a quiet corner to let God know what is on my heart, won’t you join me? Talk to Him about what is on your schedule and ask Him to give you wisdom and peace as you face today’s challenges and choices.
Psalm 25: 17-21 basically says… the troubles of my heart have multiplied; Lord free me from my anguish.
Releasing my worries... to Him doesn’t mean that I can sit back and watch as the day unfolds. I still need to jump in and take action, but it does allow me to act productively and proactively instead of being weighed down by fear of the unknown and reacting to what happens. David spent much time releasing His worries to God, and certainly he had much to worry about as Saul chased him. Many of the Psalms reveal David unburdening his heart before God.
For all of you out there with connections to law enforcement and the military, you may be relating to a lot of the feelings that David had as Saul hunted him down. David had not done any wrong to Saul, yet jealousy and bitterness had so invaded Saul’s mind he was consumed. David surrounded himself with friends and sought God’s lead and defense.

Psalm 5 1 Listen to my words, LORD,
consider my lament.
2 Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.
4 For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
with you, evil people are not welcome.
5 The arrogant cannot stand
in your presence.
You hate all who do wrong;
6 you destroy those who tell lies.
The bloodthirsty and deceitful
you, LORD, detest.
7 But I, by your great love,
can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
toward your holy temple.
8 Lead me, LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies—
make your way straight before me.
9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongues they tell lies.
10 Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
12 Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Today I challenge you step out like David, lay your worries at God’s feet and continue on the path before you. Don’t let worry and fear consume or paralyze you. In our world today, there is much to worry about, yet each new day is a gift from God. How we choose to spend today… what we do with the precious time that we’ve been given… reflects our appreciation (or lack of appreciation) for these gifts. God bless!

Worry Action Step #1 – Begin Each Day with Time Alone with God

God’s Word, has so much information on life, with lots of examples of both how to, and how not to, live it. Every word has purpose. Reading and studying helps me to focus on what is important. The people in the Bible lived lives full of choices, difficulties, joys and sorrows just as we face today. By recording their journey, God has given me a way to view my own journey through His eyes instead of through the narrow perspective of my own eyes. I need to spend time in prayer, but that’s Action Step #2… Action Step #1 has me in a quiet place reading and hearing from Him.

Grab a cup of coffee and a Bible, then find a quiet corner to hear from God. Here are a few passages (NIV) that have stood out to me in the last couple of days as I’ve read headlines and been tempted to be wrapped up in worry, fear, anger and defensiveness :

Luke 12: 25-26 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?

Psalm 3:1-3 LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! ² Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” ³ But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

Psalm 6:6-10 ⁶ I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. ⁷ My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes. ⁸ Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping. ⁹ The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer. ¹⁰ All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish; they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.

Isaiah 12:2  Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense he has become my salvation.”  

1 Peter 2:23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

Hebrews 13: 5-8 …be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” ⁶ So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” ⁷ Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
(emphasis is mine)

1 John 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

By starting off the day in this way, I place God at the top of my list and focus my thoughts on His plan for my day/future, rather than allowing my own thoughts and worries to take me captive. He helps me gain perspective. What words are speaking to your heart today?

Action Plan for Worry - Start Each Day with God

Seems that putting aside worry is always 'easier said than done'. I believe God gave us worry, but he didn't plan for us to camp out there. Rather, I think he gave it to us so that we would recognize the need to turn it over to Him and not dwell/stew on it. This morning I was talking with God about David, and all that he had to worry about. The Psalms have a lot to say abot how David handled his worries... and he certainly had a lot of them with King Saul hunting him down, and many relying on him for safety and protection.
More on the first action step, Start Each Day With God, later...
Have a blessed day!

Worry

"Worry is like a rocking chair; it'll give you something to do, but it on't get you anywhere." - unknown
So much to worry about these days... it's gotten me thinking about the subject and what God's got to say about it. When looked up in Biblical Counseling by Dr. Ron Hawkins and Dr. Tim Clinton, they say "There is only one person who can circumvent God's plan for your life... (You)"  There's a lot to that statement, so I'm deciding to put worry on the shelf because I would like to try to stay on His plan for my life! This book recommends setting up a six step Action Plan for dealing with worry. I'm inviting you along as I work through the six steps... 1) Start each day with God 2) Pray about your worries 3) Keep  journal 4) Set boundaries 5) Think differently 6) Seek balance. Won't you join me?