Wednesday, April 20
Jeremiah 17:5-10, 14-17
Psalms 55, 74
Philippians 4:1-13
John 12:27-36
Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Phil 4:6-7
Worry? Me? I may mask it well, but I worry about almost everything. I love these comforting verses but have great difficulty living them. Through his letter to the Philippians, Paul reminds me that: God wants to make me whole, He wants me to trust Him to know that everything (not just ‘some’ things) come together for good, and He will come to me (even me) and calm me down. So with promises like that, why do I still worry? It’s certainly an easier way to deal with something, because worrying is what I have always done. It is also a control mechanism. I have tricked myself into a false sense of security in the outcome of things or events that I worry about. I believe that if I worry about something, then the negative outcome won’t happen. In essence, “I can control the outcome though worrying.” That is distorted reasoning. It lacks trust in, and prayer to, God. If you struggle with worrying, like I do, and if you struggle to trust God more, let us look to Christ to displace the worry and invite Him again and again into the center space of our lives. He is more than worthy to carry me (and you) through the challenges and frets of life. Thanks be to God.
Shari Watson