Are you a worrier? Typically, I’m an easy going personality and don’t let things get to me. However, this morning when the first thing I read on my newsfeed was a story about a man being murdered on the streets of London while one person videotaped it and others passed by doing nothing, I switched into mama bear mode. My son is in Europe studying abroad this summer. He will be traveling through multiple countries during his time there. Could this happen to him? Just before I went into full blown panic mode and started emailing him articles about this event, I heard the Lord say,
And what will that accomplish? He can’t do anything about it, but I can.”
That stopped me like a cold glass of ice water in the face. “And what will that accomplish?” What does worry accomplish? Does it prevent the incident from taking place? Does it provide peace and comfort? No and no [Matthew 6:27]. All worry does is cause us to lose sleep, distract us from things we should be focusing on, cause us to lose our appetite or overeat, and if left unchecked for any length of time, it could lead to health problems.
Oswald Chambers says,
It is not only wrong to worry, it is infidelity, because worrying means that we do not think that God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it is never anything else that worries us.”
We have to ask ourselves some big questions: Is God big enough to take care of my problems? Does He care about the details of my life? We don’t have to go any further than the Word to answer those questions.
Matthew 6:25 says,
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
Have you noticed flowers growing along the side of the road? I’m not talking about the ones planted in people’s yards; I mean the ones that grow in the wild. They’re beautiful and they come back year after year without anyone tending to them, because God takes care of them. If He pays that much attention to flowers, don’t you think He pays attention to you?
Deuteronomy 31:6 says,
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
It doesn’t say the LORD your God goes with you everywhere except Europe. He clearly states He will be with us everywhere, even the dark places, even the difficult place. Psalm 23:4 says He’s beside us the whole time.
God never said we won’t have moments when we could panic, He simply told us not to do it. Easier said than done.
So what do we do when those moments of panic rise up in us? How do we respond without giving into the panic?
1 Peter 5:7 says,
Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”
Notice the word all in that statement. We don’t just give Him some of our worries, but we give Him ALL of them. We can’t do anything about the situations. God; however, can handle any situation. He has the ability to step into any situation and take charge of it not matter how big or small [Mark 4:39]. Why not dump it at His feet? Give Him your worry and in exchange take His peace, then go about your day [Philippians 4:7]. The choice is yours. Which will you carry with you today?
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