As I prepare to walk into a new season, there’s one scripture that resonates in my spirit…
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Don’t Worry
To worry is to “give way to anxiety or unease; to allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.” For me, worry is something that is easy to succumb to because I’m somewhat of a control freak. Those who know me well are probably laughing at that last sentence, because it may be an understatement. Haha! Anyway, that’s beside the point. The point is worrying does the body no good. If we allow it to consume us, it can literally take physical and mental tolls on our body in the most negative ways possible. I’ve seen it happen and to some extent I’ve experience it for myself.
Psalm 55:22 cautions us to cast our burden on the Lord such that he would sustain us. To cast is to “throw (something) forcefully in a specified direction.” What better direction than that of the Lord? To sustain is to “strengthen or support physically or mentally.” What better strength to have than that of the Lord’s? This scripture and the breakdown of the vocabulary used in it is mostly to encourage myself that there literally is no better place for my worry than with the Lord.
Pray about EVERYTHING
The scripture doesn’t say pray about some things, it says pray about EVERYthing. I feel like I’m currently in a season where those burdens are many. I must be honest in that I don’t have the most regular devotional life, and so in seasons such as this I feel shame and guilt for going before the Lord with everything on my heart but the Good News says that I am the daughter of a good, good father! Hallelujah for that! It’s crazy how parenthood has brought me to a deeper understanding of the Father’s love for me. I understand that if Theo or Uriah (or even Anaya) were to be distant from me, and come to me with a need that I would find some way to meet that need in love even if it means I must say “no.”
Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” The definitions I liked when I googled rest were “FREEDOM from activity,” and “PEACE of mind or spirit.” To be free from the burdens I am called to cast upon the Lord, I am also free from a state of imprisonment in which I might feel chained to my everyday responsibilities. I like how Merriam-Webster defines peace as a “state of quiet.” In the silence is where we hear from the Lord. To elaborate on this, I borrow the words of Mother Teresa:
“In the silence of the heart God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.”
Tell God What You Need
The truth is God knows our needs before we even decide we will communicate them to Him, but what kind of relationship would we have with Him if we didn’t have an open line of communication with our Heavenly Father? Pray about EVERYTHING!!!
Thank Him for ALL He Has Done
Today Glen & I were driving on the freeway with our kids. We both noticed an excessive amount of unnecessary congestion, but I’m not sure we expected what happened to happen. We were in the middle lane and in the fast lane a car stopped suddenly such that the car behind it had no time to break itself and ended up hitting the car in front of it as well as spinning into our lane. Fortunately, Glen was able to react and get us safely in the lane to the right of us. Even more fortunately, there was no one in that lane that Glen could’ve hit. As we were immediately able to reflect on that whole experience, we both realized that was nothing but the grace of God covering us. I’m tempted to go into all the repercussions that an accident like that would have on our family, but all I can do is praise God for covering my family in that instance & send prayers of provision/recovery for the others involved.
This feels weird to say, but a heart of gratitude to the Lord for ALL He’s done has never been a place where I feel I’ve lacked. Am I allowed to say that? LOL! I mean I do struggle with contentment, but I often find myself reflecting on the goodness of God for my family. He continually provides in ways that seem miraculous, He continues to surround us with like-minded people who support us in ways we never imagined we needed, and He provides us with many opportunities to grow in how we choose to love one another in our marriage on the daily. I’m also that weirdo that reflects on the things that God protects me from that I didn’t even get the opportunity to see coming. I am often in awe of His love for ME! Ahhh! You know… like He thinks of ME! He loves ME! I am HIS DAUGHTER! There’s so freaking much to be thankful for, how can I not have a heart of gratitude toward MY Father?!
God’s Peace
“Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” I’m grateful for the inability to understand God’s ways. It’s not my place. I’m even more grateful for a state of being in which I can rest in the arms of my Father and trust that He’s working in all things for the good of those who love Him, and who’ve been called according to His purpose. [Romans 8:28] I’ve experienced His peace time and time again and although there’s much of me sitting here anxiously awaiting the arrival of my baby girl Anaya, I know that the Lord is reminding me to let patience have its perfect work! So today, I do just that!
