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What...Me? Worry?

I am sure I am dating myself here......but when ever I hear that phrase......I cannot help but think of that fictional mascot Alfred E. Newman from my older brother's MAD magazines. I was not old enough to even understand/read them, but basically the magazine was a satirical look at American life, including politics, celebrities and pop culture. It was most assuredly politically incorrect. If I could read a copy now, I probably would go have my parents' head examined for allowing my brother to read it.....but then again.....we had Archie Bunker on the TV at supper time, so that gives ya a little insight, eh?


OK, so going back to the subject of worrying......I watched this preacher one time who made an excellent simple example of why we shouldn't worry about things in our life. How we should give it over to God who will handle it, because it is His situation. Think about it, when we give our life to Him, it (our life/the trials we face) is no longer "ours" to be in control. That actually is quite relieving to think about, isn't it?

So he asked the congregation....."Who here is worrying about *insert random person's name here*'s air conditioning unit going in his house? Who lost sleep about last night? Who had it on their mind all day, so that it distracted them from doing their job, tending to their family.....worse, focusing on serving God?"

Of course no-one was worrying about so-and-so's problem. They might have had sympathy for him, or even offered some help/suggestions......but it wasn't their issue to stress about.

That is how God wants us to do when we face trials/issues in our lives.

He tells us to come to Him, all who are weary and heavy laden......He will give us peace and rest.

That is to remind us that we should bring all our cares and worries to Him and let Him take on the yoke and burden. It will not only bring us peace (of mind and body)......it will allow us to live our life and do what we are created to do, serve Him.

Worrying is futile and steals time from us:
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life~ Matthew 6:27

Gee, that sounds like the thief to me.....doesn't it? The Enemy will do whatever he can to rob from us and keep us from focusing on God. When he creeps in our mind and starts poking around, he causes us to turn from God and start looking at ourselves. Not good. All I know is that I lived a life where I called all the shots and all it did was bring me into a dark place......so I know I don't want to go there again.

Worrying also is a sign that we are not trusting in God.....it's like.....OK God, I know you are awesome when everything is going well....you ROCK, thanks! But now that things are a little shaky.....I am not so sure I can rely on You fully to handle this. I need to take matters back in my own hands, OK?

It doesn't change anything:
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.~ Matthew 6:34

It's like living the nightmare twice.....we play out the scenario of the issue happening and then if this issue does come to pass....(which it very well could)......we live it all over again. But the fact is, that God will be with us if/when it comes to pass.

If He brings it to you, He will see you through it.

But He isn't with us with the worrying, well let me backtrack here......of course He is with us.....but maybe it is better to say, He isn't part of the worrying scene, we've left Him out when we took over the reins of control/worry.

So is it easy to Let go, Let God?

Nope. Not for me anyway.......but I'm working on it. ;)

When I find myself getting sucked into the worrying vacuum (that is what it feels like to me).....I try to rebuke the thoughts with powerful reminders such as If God is for us, who can be against us? and no weapon forged against you will prevail

Or then I can look at something so simple as one of our hens.......for whatever reason, she made her nest on the outside of our barn, in a pile of leaves....and poison ivy. great. So not only is she getting rained on.....she is totally subjecting herself to becoming a fox or coyote's midnight snack of chicken nuggets.
She is a dedicated mama and will not budge. She is laying on her nine babies (eggs) and has not gotten up to even eat for days.
Not sure why she made this decision......Josh just says, because she is chicken and is stupid. I like to believe that she trusts.

Every morning I would run out and check on her to make sure she was safe.....then we had one night where it rained all night and I couldn't take it.
So, I guess we took on her worrying/cares on us, because we ended up building her a shelter and brought her food and water. She didn't really understand and got very fierce when we were coming close to her.....but I kept telling her that we loved her and wanted to keep her safe. She needed to concentrate on hatching her babies.

I believe that she is thankful. Can you see her all camouflaged in the leaves? See the lovely poison ivy too?

So really sure if it "worked"......but I was trying to tie in how happy it made me to take care of our little hen's problems, so I can only imagine that God delights when He is able to take care of ours, especially when we trust and willingly hand it over to Him.

Happy Monday!
Peace~
*~Michelle~*

13 comments:

Summer said...

Wow! What a beautiful post. I need to work on this.

Debbie Petras said...

Hi Michelle,
This is my first visit to your blog and it figures. You posted on a topic that I too often struggle with ...worry. How right you are and I know these things in my head. But I'm learning each day to trust the Lord with the circumstances in my life. After all, He is sovereign and capable. My little pea brain can't figure all of life out. But how thankful I am that I can go to the One who does see all and know all. And that's where I want to run.

BTW, I well remember Archie Bunker and MAD magazine. Lol.

~*Michelle*~ said...

@ Summer....I think we all need to work on this at some point or another!
{{hugs}}

@ Debbie
It never surprises me on how God knows His way around the internet, huh? And yes.....He is the Great I AM, and best qualified to direct our steps, isn't He?

Thanks for popping by!
xox
*~Michelle~*

More Than Words said...

Hi Michelle!!

Oh my gosh, although I never read MAD magazine, I totally remember it!!! LOL!

I loved your post, and how we shouldn't worry about things! I'm learning not to "dwell" over things. I know it's the enemy trying to keep my eyes off of the Lord. Our flesh gets so consumed w/ "our" feelings that we forget to take them to the Lord.

Thank you so much for posting this!!! I was blessed!

momstheword said...

My nephew called right when I was about to comment on your post, so I had to stop and take the call!

Just wanted you to know what a blessing your post is today. Worry has always been a weakness of mine, although God has been working with me in this area for years, lol!

You are so right, worry doesn't do a bit of good. All it does is take our eyes off of Jesus.

I used to read Mad when I was little too, lol! My brother read it and I read his!

Anonymous said...

What a cute little story about the mama hen!!

I needed to read this message today because I actually lost sleep for the past couple of weeks worrying about my marriage, argh. It is consuming me and I actually find myself pushing away the Bible :o) crikey!! I need to use this trial to strengthen my relationship with the Lord, that's for sure.

Boy, if I do lose time worrying then I'm surprised I made it past age 19!

~*Michelle*~ said...

So happy that God used me as a vessel to spread that Word for you guys.....

and also happy that I some of you knew about MAD magazine, ROFL

Denise said...

Hi Michelle, what a beautiful post.

Thanks for coming by my blog. We do have 4 seasons here in East Tennessee....not too much snow, but definitely 4 seasons. We've been here since 2004 and every year we've had some snow & at least of week of temps that don't get out of the single digits. Fall here is BEAUTIFUL & Spring has even more colors than Fall. It gets a little humid in the Summer, but nothing like being along the coast. The one thing I miss the most is that we are a good 8 hours from the ocean.

momstheword said...

Awwww, Jillian and your 30 Day Shred.....Oh yeah, it's grueling and I talk back to her all the time.

O.k., well sometimes I grunt back to her.

What level are you on? I am on level one. I tried level two but decided I wasn't ready for it, and totally not ready for level 3.

This was my first visit to Sonic and I really enjoyed their limeades.

Laurel said...

Hi Michelle,

Thanks for commenting on my blog. I look forward to reading more of your blog.

mama of 13

Elyse said...

What a great post. So well put and just what I needed. Thanks for commenting this morning. I really needed it :)
~Elyse

Tracey said...

A great reminder that I need to turn all my cares and conerns over to Him. So much easier said than done!

I'm Jen. said...

That was a great post, Michelle. I loved Mad magazine. Do you remember that if you folded the back page in half, it would change the picture. I always loved that part of it.

I am a worrier by nature. Its been really hard for me to let go and I am still learning. I plan to put Psalm 46:10 where I can see it every morning to remind myself: "Be still and know that I am God." He's got it all under control. Nothing happens that doesn't pass through his hand first.

 

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