Image by Nik Shuliahin via Unsplash

Are you worried about anything today? Job security? Money? Relationship problems? Poor health?

The older I get, the more I think that worry and anxiety may be some of the most common emotional experiences of humanity! We all experience them. So much of the time.

I’d like to say that I have an “every little thing is gonna be alright” approach to life. But, I can’t. I’m a do-er, so when I see problems or needs (even if they’re only potential), I tend to jump into action mode. What should I do? How can I fix this problem? Am I doing enough?

It’s as if I think that if my actions are somehow found wanting, I’ll be undeserving of having those needs met. The weight of the world seems to rest on my shoulders in those moments.

Do you ever feel like this?

When the “what ifs” attack

Josh always says that I have us living under a bridge in my mind. I admit – I’m a struggling reali- oh, ok, I tend to be a pessimist.

Josh will soon be without work, because his company needs to move his remote position back to the States. His job has been our primary income on the mission field for two and a half years.

He’s been job searching. We’re trying to fundraise. We’re praying for God to open the door that is best.

I will admit that it’s got me a little freaked out! In my mind, I see us having to pack up our lives and leave the mission field to do…well, I’m not sure what we would do.

Worry. Anxiety. The curse of the “what ifs”.

When you can sleep like a baby

I had a reality check this morning on the topic of anxiety.

My son, Titus, woke up early. I sat in his room, in the dim light and quiet of a day not fully begun. I snuggled him close and nursed him, watching his big brown eyes slowly shut again. His body went limp, and he drifted off to dreamland. He looked like the perfect picture of peace.

And a thought came to me.

He doesn’t have a care in the world. It does not even occur to him that he should worry about what he will wear or eat or where he will live. He is 100%, completely at rest in his Mama’s arms.

And it reminded me of something I read recently.

Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. – Isa. 49:15, ESV

Image by Laura Lee Moreau via Unsplash

I’m far from a perfect Mama, but I can definitely say that I never want our kids to worry about having their needs met. Josh and I work hard and pray earnestly so that they can be carefree and content, not even having to question whether they will be fed, or clothed, or loved. As their Mama, I will always do everything in my power to make sure they do not know need.

And it’s not dependent on what they do. I don’t expect Nora and Titus to help us figure out how to provide for them. They don’t have to work or make money. They bear zero responsibility to ensure that there is food on the table, clothes on their backs, and a roof over their heads.

We do all of this for them – simply because they are our children. Taking care of them is part of who we are.

If that is my imperfect, earthly understanding of love and provision, how much more does my Father God take pleasure in meeting our needs? How much more is providing for us woven into the fabric of who He is. He simply loves to care for His children.

What a simple, complicated, miraculous truth!

As a I sat and held my sleeping baby close, still another verse came to mind:

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? – Matthew 6:28-30

Share what works for you!

I needed this reminder today. It may not be some new revelation, but I hope that it will bolster your spirits, as it did mine. I hope that no matter what the worries in your life may be, these words will help you find perspective.

Where do you turn for hope in times of anxiety? What specific words or things strengthen you to walk through the worries? Let’s encourage one another!