As my knee heals, I discovered biking does not hurt. This is a blessing since I love biking as much as walking. So I took off yesterday on my bike since the threat of rain made kayaking less enticing. As I pedaled along, I prayed with a heart filled with many worries. My phone is mounted on the handlebars (which is how I got this picture on the blog) and has a map tracker so I know how far/fast I have gone. When I was stopped on a corner in the midst of my fretting over the concerns in my heart, a text with a bible verse flashed on my phone screen.
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
Worry accomplishes nothing for the future but it does rob the joy of the moment. I know that. We ALL know that. So why do we waste so much precious time worrying? Maybe because thoughts love a vacuum. If my head is empty and there are concerns in my life (and when are there NOT concerns in anyone’s life...) my musings instantly clump on WORRYING THINGS.
This happens especially in the middle of the night, when it is dark and quiet. Worry worry worry....Not only does it rob me of joy but it robs me of sleep.
What is a worry-wart to do?
Replace it. Replace worry with praise. Instead of focusing on the worry, I began to focus on God. Not what God has done for me because at the moment I was concerned about what God was NOT doing that I desperately wanted Him TO DO. But with all sincerity, I was able to focus on WHO God is and praise Him in awesome wonder.
He is the creator, the one who made this entire universe and set the earth spinning in its impossible balance of life-sustaining warmth, atmosphere, and gravity. He is my Father who designed me and all humanity with infinite love and purpose, and a deep desire that we would seek relationship with Him. He is the supreme artist who painted every glorious sunset, crashing wave, brilliant flower, and peacock plume. He is the comforter who sends spring after the harsh winter. He is the just and perfect law-giver, who wrote the moral code that dwells in the soul of each of us. He is the redeemer who provides a way for us to be restored to a right relationship with Him when we inevitably violate His Holy standard.
The worries in my heart are not petty, and they are not insignificant. I bet yours are not either. But I can promise you this, because God promises us this: When we put our trust in the Lord, NOTHING can separate us from the love of God and eternity will not be a fearful punishment but a glorious fulfillment of all we long for now but cannot quite grasp.
This morning, I head out to the sidewalks of the abortion center where fear and worry are fueling the stampede of mothers to kill their own babies. Our Cities4Life team will be standing in the rain calling out to those desperate people, urging them to consider a different solution. I know what a destructive path our hearts and mind follow when we focus on the obstacles and worries at our feet rather than on the promises of our Father in Heaven. This is the message I think God has for me to share with them today.
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Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
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