Devotional 10-10-14

Don’t Worry

Philippians 4:6-7  
“ Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Unfortunately, anxiety and worry have become a part of our everyday life—sometimes quite overwhelming, and at other times, only a passing thought.  This is the time we need to remember that God has asked us to just pray, and let him do the worrying.

I had back surgery two weeks ago, and worried about it for days prior to surgery.  It’s all I could think about.  I’ve had surgery before, and I don’t recall obsessively worrying about it.  My surgery went very well, I’m now recuperating, and I am free of pain! Before my surgery, some people told me stories of risky back surgery, and others said recovery would be difficult because of my age. And so I worried. And worried.

Sometimes we can become so obsessed with worry that we focus only on whatever it may be which has created our grave concern.  I used to tease my mom, who was a worrier. She worried continually over one thing or another.  And I would say, “Mom, before you know it, you’ll be worrying because you don’t have anything to worry about!”

It’s natural to worry. We face a world crisis of terrorism; we know human rights of thousands are brutally being taken away; and it’s rare to hear much good news at six p.m.  We’re concerned over safety when our children and grand children are at school; we go over and over our retirement plans to make sure we’ll have enough to take care of ourselves. There are always decisions to make. We’re human after all, and we care about lots of things that naturally cause us to worry.

God knows we worry.  Even though we know that worrying is a waste of time, we still worry. God has asked us not to worry, and to turn over all of our fear, anxiety, concern and worry to Him.  We need to remember to do that. Being able to do so is a blessing only God can give.

The morning of my surgery, I happened to see on my refrigerator a magnet with an important message. It was given to me on my Walk to Emmaus. I read it almost every day, but on the day of my surgery, it reminded me that I needn’t worry.  God would take care of everything.

Good Morning!

This is God.

I will be handling 

all of your problems today.

I will not need your help,

So have a good day!

Diane Feaganes