Worry

Philippians 4:6
Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.

It is so easy to give thanks to God. I am grateful when he is good to me. Each night I thank him for the gift of my family and for his presence in my life. Each morning I thank him for the new day and for the opportunity to serve him in some way. I can do thanks.
I have trouble with supplication. Don’t get me wrong, I ask God for a lot. I just don’t give my worry to him. I ask him for help with finances and three seconds after I say amen, I begin to worry about work. I ask him to heal a friend and open my eyes worrying about his family. I can ask, I just can’t surrender.
Paul tells us not to worry about anything. How can we not worry? Life happens; we have to deal with it, right? But here’s what I think he’s saying: we have to think about life’s troubles, we have to address them, but we don’t have to worry about them. I can think about problems at work, I can problem solve, pray, and finally resolve, but I don’t have to let the problems control me. When I worry, I place all of my energy on them; I begin to put more importance on the problems than on God or the blessings in my life. Seldom do I find a solution through worry. If, instead, I pray and ask for guidance, my thoughts clear and opportunities present themselves.
Last year, I realized that I could no loner bring my girls to my friend’s house while I was at work. The bus would not pick up there for Maggie’s school. I researched different day cares and knew that we were going to have a hard time paying for them. I didn’t know anyone in our district who did home daycare. I was consumed with worry.
I decided the best thing to do was to calm down. I couldn’t think clearly, so I prayed for peace. Then I sarcastically suggest that if God had any ideas, he might let me know. Less than five minutes later, the phone rang and my mom had a great idea. A friend of ours needed work and could drive to our home and ca for the girls here. It has been a blessing.
I didn’t solve my problem through worry, I solved it through prayer. I guess I learned a few things through this process, God answers prayers, worry is counterproductive and God forgives sarcasm when you’re really stressed out.
The other part of this passage that rings true in my life is that when we are worried, thanking god for what we already have brings joy and peace in the midst of trouble. When we remember to thank God for blessings and surrender our worries to him, solutions arrive and our worries disappear.

Sovereign Lord,
We know that you have blessed us immensely on this earth and that our problems are opportunities to grow. Thank you for being present in our lives. Help us to focus on you and not on our worries. Help us also to remember that though you will hear our prayers, we need to be listening for the answers and putting in the effort to solve our problems. Grant us patience and persistence in difficult times.

Amen.