This Worry Wart has Gotta Go
A worry wart is someone who tends to spend way too much time on – well…worrying — having anxious thoughts about this and that. I’m, typically, not like that! I just don’t let myself go there. But, this year, we’ve had plenty to worry about – some really serious things to worry about. I seemed to have breezed through it all so far, so my confession of being a worry wart may come as a surprise.
Enters this year’s fishing trip with my family. Something so delightful, invigorating, memory-making with a routine we’ve had for years. But, this year brought changes to our usual routine that caused me some fretting and even some troubled nights sleeping. Rather than the usual cabin we had all stayed in together before, this year, in the mix, is a humongous, beautiful RV. It’s fully equipped, efficient and streamlined. Everything has its perfect place and everything one needs is there. But, the RV experience changes my normal routines (i.e., blog writing, sleeping arrangements, preparing meals for two locations, etc.) The three guys are in the cabin. Logistics just weren’t the same.
I know it was ridiculous to be so anxious about something so trivial, but nevertheless, it still filled my mind with worry. Oh, I know that perfect peace comes from keeping my mind on Christ, but my mind kept taking the detour around the peace. Then, a couple of days before our trip, during my usual morning walk, I heard the song “Fear no More” by Building 429. “You’re my courage when I worry in the dead of night. You’re my strength cause I’m not strong enough to win this fight. You are greater than the battle raging in my mind. I will trust You, Lord. I will fear no more.” Seriously, I teared up as I knew it was a direct-from-heaven message about this annoying anxiety.
What? Such whininess coming from this super-powered woman of God? Lord, PLEASE forgive me — when there are those who are facing dire reasons for concern and worry. Staci and I were in conversation when Payton, my grandson, called expressing frustration from some diligent, intense work he’d done on a website and suddenly everything he had accomplished, was lost. We prayed for recovery of it all and I told him about my own moments of anxiety and fear. I realized I had been in my stressful moments so that I could relate and encourage him.
It’s amazing when as a devoted follower of Christ, I’m being a worry wart! But then, into that place comes a God-whisper in my heart, “Your worry can’t change anything, only I can.” Luke 12:25 says, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” Who of us by worrying can make the bills go away, the sickness be healed, the stress be relieved, the marriage be restored, the lost data reappear, the washer get fixed, the project turn out right?
When I heard that song, I realized it wasn’t a “naughty, naughty, Donna” – it was a relief. Jesus, in all His gentleness and kindness, His extravagant mercy and care, took the big boulder from my shoulders and whispered, “It doesn’t depend on you.” Isn’t that what we really want to know?
It’s a daily suiting up in our armor to wage war against he that is the worry-wart-enforcer. We have a choice to trust the hard things to the Someone who cares for us. Choosing to trust and let go. Here’s what we can rest in today: The only One Who bears the weight of the whole world on His shoulders is strong enough to carry all my little pebble-worries and concerns. How sweet it is to trust in Jesus and to let Him be the worry-bearer and the wart-remover!