Monday, April 4, 2022

What We Worry About

I occasionally troll Twitter. I get the latest takes on sports, news, and opinions. I learn a lot about how people think and the concerns that they face. Just a few days ago, someone asked on Twitter a simple question: What are you currently worried about?

The answers were all over the map. Here are a few of the 227 responses:
  • A custody trial. I know I shouldn’t be, but literally, my everything is at stake.
  • My next appointment with the Neurosurgeon
  • Finishing my taxes.
  • Putin launching nukes or beginning of WW3
  • My 95-year-old dad wants to keep driving even with failing eyesight
  • Some health issues
  • Finances.
  • Getting all my work done efficiently over the coming weeks without letting stress sap my energy.
  • What’s happening to the people of Ukraine
  • I have anxiety. I’m always worried about everything
  • Where I’m going to live
  • Inflation eating up my discretionary income
  • Nuclear war
  • WWIII, COVID, and the possibility of moving from Texas to the NE
  • The world my kids will be living in 30 years from now.
I assume some on this list you resonate with. I certainly do. As I look at this list, I realize that we human beings are walking around doing life with a lot on our minds.

What will happen? Perhaps, that’s part of our worries! We don’t know the future! We don’t even know what will happen in the next 24 hours! Oh, we’ll try our darndest to plan those 24 hours out to be what WE want them to be. Reality tells us; however, we really don’t know.

What are your worries today? What keeps you up at night? Paul, in the book of Philippians, literally gives a command that guides us to freedom and peace:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

We are not to be anxious about anything! As we go to God and pray about everything and abide in Christ, He helps keep our hearts from worry. We literally practice casting our cares and concerns (no matter how big or small) on the Lord Jesus.

So, go ahead! Tell God about all your needs. Lay every burden at His feet and leave them there. God’s peace is available for the asking!

“In worry, we talk to ourselves. In prayer, we talk to God. When we worry, we focus on the circumstances of life, but in prayer, we focus on our heavenly Father.” 
(Knowing Jesus, Philippians 4:6)

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio. 

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