Saturday Devotional..."What? Me worry?"

“God is our refuge and our strength."

Do you often find yourself in the middle of an overpowering worry? I know I do, and it is not pretty. I try to remind myself of the definition of FEAR!

F…False

E…Evidence

A…Appearing

R…Real

Let’s look at this acrostic. It needs to be broken apart.

In my experience some FEARS are false and still appear real. Others are right in front of your minds and are far from false. These fears do appear real because they are real. I am going to mention a few fears that people have. Some are personal; some are not. What is a girl to do? Well there is a solution.

“God is our refuge and our strength, an ever present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.

Psalm 46:1-2

Most of our fears do not involve mountains falling into the heart of the sea...unless you live in California, that is...LOL! Still, life does give us worries and fears that we deal with all the time.

Here are a few examples of things we worry about:

Scenario #1…

Will there be money to pay for the mortgage payment this month?

This is a real fear if you are having difficulty making ends meet. There is so much challenge these days for families to always be solvent and never have worries about finances. A budget helps, but sometimes even that cannot always rise to the needs.

Scenario #2…

Will I have enough time to get ready for my mother’s visit?

This is not something to scoff at. We want our parents to see us as put together. But the three year old toddler and the one year old twins return the toys to the floor faster than you can get them off the floor. The laundry piles up enough to challenge Mount Everest. Still, the deal is that while the evidence is not false, the reality is that the amount it puts over you causing you so much worry is overrated. Your mother is coming to see you and her grandbabies. If it is not perfect address it when she gets there. Remember, she was once a young mother with the same challenges.

Scenario #3…

Will my adult child ever decide to make God the center of his life?

This is something to be concerned about. Still there is a scripture that says, if you have trained up a child in the way he should go when he is old he will not depart from it. You are a parent who came to salvation after her children have grown up and left the nest. Does this scripture speak to your worry? I believe it does. In my case one of my children had embraced Islam as he was trying to find himself. After a few years he went back to his Catholic beliefs that he was raised in. It is no longer my path, but it is Christian. When I consider the beliefs of another child I tell myself that as a person, “one does not know until she knows.” I did my best and I believe that God loves this child and his family more than I ever could. All will be well. It is a promise of God.

Scenario #4…

Will I ever overcome this addiction (whatever it is) that I have?

This is real and not a false fear which I often feel powerless about. Still I have to believe that He who is in me is more powerful than any temptation or weakness that I have. One who has an addiction problem (big or small) can lean on the fact that it is not by her power but by the power of God that things are done. He has said that; all we have to do is really believe it.

Scenario #5…

Will I survive this cancer diagnosis and be cured?

This is something that happened to me recently. There was a lot of stress. I wondered if it was something that I needed to check out. What doctor would I choose? Will it be deadly? Who is the surgeon and will I like her? What is my future to be? I was blessed. The treatments have rendered me cancer free. It is normal to worry, and I did a lot of it….mostly about side things. I handled it by sharing my thoughts and the process with my friends. I got lots of support and amazing words that touched my heart. Now when people ask me how I am doing I have to remind myself that they are checking on my health. I can happily tell them, “Fine! I am all better.” Will it ever return? At the moment I am choosing not to worry about it.

If I have not touched on your areas of concern you know what they are.

It is normal to worry. It sometimes helps us realize a new understanding of a problem or the need to do something about it. However, we must not let it build into the kind of FEAR that the acrostic shows. That kind of fear is paralyzing at a time when we need to be clear headed and proactive. I do not mean proactive by trying to solve it under your own power.

Go…go…go…even hundreds of times to the Lord.
Let Him be “your refuge and your strength, and your ever present Help in trouble."
And then trust Him.

Written by Corinne Mustafa