worry

“Her grades are slipping.”
“He’s been sick for 2 weeks.”
“Her friends have all dropped her.”
“Some of the boys he’s hanging out with aren’t good influences.”
“All we seem to do is fight.”
“She was supposed to be home an hour ago.”

We love our children.  We want the best for them.  And we worry.

As soon as I catch myself, I try to turn my worry into prayer. I say ‘try’ because it’s an effort.  It’s truly hard to not worry.  After all, we’ve developed this pattern over a lifetime. God knows this about us.  He can lead us out of this exhausting pattern.

Identifying our fear and surrendering it to God is a great first step. The more detail we unload to God the better:

“Lord, her grades are really slipping and I don’t know how else to help her.  I’m afraid she might fail the class. I give this fear to You. Please fill me with your peace and show me Your way.”

“Father, I don’t have a good feeling about his new friends. I give you my fear that they are bad influences. Please show me how to walk through this.”

When we rely on what we think, see or hear, it’s easy to imagine a grim picture, which leads to worry. As we turn to rely on God, He receives our burden while comforting us and grows our faith.

God does not want us to be shaken.  Worrying fuels wobbling.  He desires that we are strengthened, in and through Him.

“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12.28)

Worshipping God shifts our focus to the One who can, and will, do what is best at the time that He knows is best.  Thanking Him for how He has been and continues to be faithful to us refresh our soul.

Lord God, lead us from the prison of worry to the freedom of faith.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11.1)