Do you ever worry?
That’s a silly question, isn’t it?
We all worry.
I know I do. Sometimes I worry about little insignificant stuff, and sometimes I worry about big heavy duty stuff.
Lately, my mind has been filled with the big heavy duty stuff.
The kind of stuff that I need to talk to my mom about.
The kind of stuff that she always had the best advice for.
I miss my Mom.
I miss her encouraging words. She was always so full of them.
One time, when I was in college, I was going through a stressful time and was worrying about how I was going to make it through the obstacles in front of me. Mom prayed and prayed for me and kept telling me that God was going to give me the strength to make it through.
One day I checked my campus mailbox and there was a note in there from Mom. And in that note was little piece of paper with this poem on it…
View from the Hill
Worry is like a distant hill
We glimpse against the sky.
We wonder how we ever will
Get up a hill so high.
Yet, when we reach the top, we see
The roadway left behind
Is not as steep and sheer as we
Have pictured in our mind.
Author Unknown
That poem meant so much to me. I was determined to “keep climbing” until I reached the top. And the poem was right. When I finally made it through that difficult time, I was able to look back and see that it really wasn’t as bad as I worried it was going to be.
After I got married and had a few kids, :) I decided it was time to get my Masters. I was a stay-at-home mom, and we were broke. It was a huge struggle to pay for and go to night classes for the next few years. At times, I didn’t think I was going to make it.
But I did.
I graduated from Georgetown College (KY) with my Masters in Elementary Education!
My husband, Mom, and sister were there that day to celebrate with me.
After the ceremony we went to get a bite to eat. Mom and Cyndi had fixed me a huge bag of little goodies (just like I liked)…lotion, candles, magazines, etc. And in that bag was a card from Mom. When I opened the card, this fell out…
Before I could even read it, I started crying. Mom was celebrating with me yet another mountain I had climbed.
(Of course, it wasn’t smeared like it is now. I keep it on my refrigerator, and one of the boys got it wet one day. I love how the words my mom wrote didn’t smear!)
She was a great cheerleader, rooting me on every step of the way.
I could really use one of her pep talks right now.
I am facing several mountains in my life right now, and I have to admit, I am worried.
Whenever I think about worry, I always remember this quote I heard one time and wrote in my bible.
“Worry fuels Satan, like Faith fuels Christ.”
It is so true.
When I worry, I am giving power to Satan, and I am telling Christ that I don’t trust Him to take care of me.
I don’t want to do that.
But it’s a daily battle for me.
Phillipians 4:6 says, “Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything. Ask God to supply your needs, and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers.”
The key is prayer.
“Don’t worry…pray…”
I know I am not spending enough time in prayer. If I were, I would not be worrying so much. Because when I spend time with God, I see things more clearly. And my worries fade.
Especially when I read,
“For I know the plans I have for you (insert your name), plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. And then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13
Or..
“Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
Or…
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:25-34
Or..
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
I am so thankful for God’s word and the peace that it brings!
And so thankful for a Mom that always pointed me to Him!
Do you have any “mountains of worry” in front of you today?
I pray that you and I both will take our worries to the foot of the cross, and receive in return the Peace that only Jesus can give.
Thanks for letting me share the thoughts beneath my heart,
Traci
