Feeling Worried?

I’m a muddy mess! Tax day is quickly approaching and I received an unexpected email from our tax accountant late last night. Based on his calculations, we owe an enormous amount of taxes to the IRS come Tuesday. Tuesday!! That’s only 3 days away! We hadn’t planned to owe anything. Immediately upon reading his email, I could feel the butterflies congregating in my stomach, flying wildly in various directions. My heart beginning to pound.

This is an old tendency that I would really like to bury. I have the tendency to lean on our bank account for my security and when I see our funds depleting, I often begin to feel a bit anxious. I hate it. I don’t want my security to be here, on this earth.

I want my hope to be in the Lord.

“Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.” I Timothy 6:17 (NLT)

Many things in the life can cause us to feel anxious. We all live life with moments of fear, anxiety, worry and pure dread.  There will come a day when your life feels more like a roller coaster ride than the lazy river. A phone call from the doctor bearing bad news…a difficult season with a teenager…uncertainty on how to parent through the terrible two’s…let’s face it, we’ve all been there!

When we look to ourselves as the answer to our problems, we will find ourselves grasping for anxiety.

Rather, when we look to God, He becomes the resource for all of life’s answers.  We cannot be overcome with worry and trust God simultaneously.  They cannot co-exist.  We choose to do one or the other like a flip of a switch.  We can trust God one moment, and turn around to find ourselves anxious and worried the very next.

It is difficult to trust God because it requires faith.  Scripture says, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” (Hebrews 11:1)  Satan is constantly at work to convince us of the exact opposite.  His goal is for us to take matters into our own hands, ultimately putting our faith and trust in self.  Here are some truths found in scripture that I constantly have to remind myself of…

• We cannot always see that God is working all things together for our good.  (Romans 8:28)
• God has a plan for my life and has even prepared in advance good works for me to do.  (Ephesians 2:10)
• He knows everything there is to know about me, and despite that, he still loves me.  (Luke 12:7, Romans 5:8)
• Even when I mess up, God still loves me.  Nothing can separate me from His love. (Romans 8:39)
• God will never put to shame those who love Him.  (Romans 10:11)
• He cares about things that upset and bother me, whether big or small.  (I Peter 5:7)
• He knows the motives of my heart—the good, the bad and the ugly.  I cannot hide from Him.  (Matthew 6:21, Jeremiah 23:24)

 Whatever is on your mind, sweet friend, share it with God today.  He sees.  He hears.  He acts.  And He is not partial to certain persons.

“Who shows no partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?”  Job 34:19