Free From Worry. MVC Guest Author – Michelle Van Vliet
“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 than food, and the body more 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life” Matt 6:25-27
When Circumstances Take a Surprising Turn
Even though we were not in a “total darkness” zone, on the day of the 2017 Eclipse across the U.S. I still paused as the moon made its entrance into the morning. Those little shadow crescents casting themselves everywhere reminded me of God’s incredible attention to this world. I also wondered how our son, Ben, attending college in Oregon, was experiencing a “total darkness eclipse” and looked forward to hearing about it later that day.
However, rather than Ben calling, his friend called to tell us Ben was taken to the hospital. There weren’t many details, only that he was in extreme abdominal pain. It wasn’t long before I found myself stuck in a “worry loop” – the kind where your mind races with thoughts of worst-case scenarios. As concerns overshadowed my otherwise peaceful day, I tried my best to calmly await more information. Fortunately, good news came fast and crested through my anxious heart. His girlfriend summed it up on her Instagram post. “You pass kidney stones like the moon passed the sun today”. While I can look back and find humor in the irony, I also cannot ignore my habit of mentally going down the road of total life annihilation when something bad or unexpected happens. Why is it so easy to worry?
When our circumstances take a surprising turn, it throws our emotions into chaos. At which point, our pesky friend called Worry tells us, “If this situation doesn’t turn out OK, you won’t be OK”. Worry is the enemy of rest and it rarely, if ever, accomplishes something good in us. It will, instead, lock us in fear, rob us of joy and hold enormous power over us. Our compulsive habit to cooperate with it suggests something that we may not realize, that somewhere deep down we doubt God is truly good. As Christians, we are taught God is good. We sing songs about it, we use it as a passing greeting, or consolation. However, when something rocks our otherwise peaceful world, our emotions quickly derail our rational thoughts revealing what we believe in our heart. And this belief will eclipse what we tell our minds every time.
Is God Good?
Take Eve, for instance, she knew God was good. After all, she spent time with Him in the garden every day! She watched the sparrows bask in heavenly care every morning! Yet, when the serpent showed up, her idea of God was challenged. Why wouldn’t God allow us to eat from the ALL the trees? Maybe God is with-holding something. Maybe He isn’t good after all. Maybe I should take matters into my own hands and eat the fruit that will give me what I need. More gripping than our knowledge of his goodness is the idea that God may withhold something good from us – An unanswered prayer, a sudden change of events, a long-awaited desire that’s never been met. This silent belief stirs in us when life doesn’t go the way we think it should – when God doesn’t give us the good things we desire. If we are ruthlessly honest with ourselves, many of us would admit that “Sure, God is good, but He might not be good to me.”….and so we worry.
Conquering Worry with Love
If we understand why we do it, and how it isn’t helpful, why do we keep doing it? Worry is simply a practice in meditation. Yep, you read that right, worry is nothing more than meditating on fear, which is why it can be so consuming. It spreads like a wildfire in our heart and mind because we create internal pathways for it to do so. Those pathways also create roadblocks. Fear, as described in Scripture, cannot share space with love. When we meditate on fear, it blocks our ability to experience love. When we are full of fear it is nearly impossible to receive love or to offer it. However, there is hope! Just like the sun is larger than the moon, love is stronger than fear. In fact, Scripture says “Love casts out fear”! (1 Jn 4:18)
How do we conquer worry? We stop cooperating with fear. We pause our racing thoughts, take them captive so they become obedient to Christ through a new meditation on Love. “Whatever is pure, lovely, admirable and praiseworthy …think on these things.” (Phil 4:8) We practice those thoughts daily by recalling God’s faithful love and remembering moments when we experienced it. This reprograms our habit of worry into a habit of praise and rest. It will empower us to live and love more deeply because the shackles of fear will break, and we will be set free in God’s love.
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Are you prone to worry?
Is there a specific situation that causes you to worry right now?
Is there a way God may be inviting you to release your worry?
If so, confess it to Him, be honest about where you are and where you’d rather be…
Is there a way God May be inviting you to release your worry?
If so, recall His goodness and faithfulness to you. Remember it, journal it, speak it…right now. Then do it again, and again, and again until your heart remembers too.
“How glorious the splendor of a human heart that trusts that it is loved.” – Brennan Manning