Stop the Worry!

When I go shopping with my kids, depending on each child’s mood and time of day we go shopping, it can become an exciting trip. There have been times after parking the car; I would go get the shopping cart before getting the kids out of the car. It's a little easier to handle two rambunctious kids that way. So I would go to my son first, and when I open the door, the first thing I see is tears running down his face. I would ask Timmy, “why are you crying?” And his reply is, “I don't know? I’m sad.” Then I realize that He is crying because he is worried that I would leave him in the car by himself. Like most children, who believe you will leave them and never come back for them. Nevertheless, I assured him with a smile on my face, “I will never leave him.” Then I see his pearly white teeth peeping through his smile.

As we look at our own lives, isn't that how we are? We worry that God will leave us abandoned on the side of the road when He is nowhere near us. We call out to him in prayer, trying to make sense of the situation we are in, but hear silence on His end. In Numbers 14, the Israelites were in the same boat. They had questioned why God brought them all the way out to Canaan, their promised land, only to feel abandoned by Him. In Numbers 14:2-3, “And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” The children of Israel were worried, and they wanted out.

There are times in our own lives where we start to worry about certain situations. Then we probably start thinking the worst as the Israelites did. So what do we do when we worry? Do we worry and then start making drastic decisions? Do we not do anything and sit on our sorry buts and worry turns into anxiety? The Bible tells us to cast all worry to God. Whatever is hindering us from living a peaceful life, God tells us to give it to him. It’s not our burden to carry. Jesus took all of the burdens and laid them on the cross, so we don’t have to worry about it.

God gives us peace in every situation. Sometimes He tells us to wait out the problem, and He will take care of it for us, or sometimes He will give us the wisdom to conquer the situation. However, we need to provide the stressful situation to God, so He can provide us with the peace to overcome it.

Unfortunately for the children of Israel, anyone who didn’t believe in obtaining the land of Canaan, because it was too dangerous, didn’t enter the promised land. Don’t let worry stop you from entering your promised land. Don’t let it stop you from stepping into all that God has for you. So what are you worrying about today? I know there are many things to be worried and anxious about in this day and age. Give it to him in prayer and worship. Philippians 4:6, states “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’’ Let the presence of God consume your thoughts so that the worry and anxiety will flee from you.

If you have anything you are worried about and would like prayer over, please message me, and I can pray for you. We can’t do life on our own; we need people around us to pray and build each other up.