Being: Worried - Having Faith in What We Can't See

Happy Sunday Being: Me readers!

I am so excited to be back and writing again to you all. This week has been exciting in some ways and also overwhelming in others. I had planned on writing a post all about how Victor and I met, how he proposed, and how God has shown His faithfulness in ways we never knew were possible this past year - but God placed something different on my heart this morning and I am going to run with it. (Yes, I'll still be posting all about Victor and our story - it's just going to be a little delayed.) 

It is time for me to admit one of my biggest struggles in life that always has some type of hold on me, preventing me from living out my life to the fullest, the way God has intended us to live. That struggle? 

Worrying.

Can anyone else relate? 

"Worry" is described as a state of anxiety and uncertainty over actual or potential problems. Yes, I know you know what the word worry means, but sometimes it's easier to understand when we let Webster's Dictionary do the initial breakdown for us. 

I worry about so many things - big and small. I worry about money and finances. I worry about my career. I fear not fulfilling my dreams. I worry about my husband and my family's safety when I am not with them. I worry about keeping my health insurance through my employer. I worry about leaving the space heater on for too long and catching my home on fire.(I know, it's weird.)  I worry about the next generation being exposed to content far too old for their innocent brains to comprehend. I worry about lighting a candle and then there being an earthquake and it falling of the table. (LOL I wish I was joking...yes I have a fear of fire.) The list goes on and on.

Does this sound relatable to you? Maybe it doesn't. Maybe it sounds like I'm a crazy lady. (It's partially true.) But there is one thing that all of these worries have in common... They are WRONG. I should not worry about these things, but of course it is not as easy as it sounds. 

This week, I had enough. Allowing the dictionary to define my worry was NOT cutting it for me. It was as if God kept knocking at my door telling me to wake up and listen to what He has been trying to tell me. And then this morning, our pastor at Story City Church in Burbank, (Thanks, Matt Lawson) continued to drive this point home and I think it's time for me to share. 

Photo by Emily Faith Photography

First, let's give three small examples of what God says about "worrying" in the Bible. This is important. 

• Matthew 6:25  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?"

• Luke 12:25  “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his  span of life?”

• Proverbs 12:25 "Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad."

There are so many other examples I could give, but these are some easy ones. In Matthew 6:25, we are being called out for treating food and clothing as being more important than life itself. How many of you have had a stressful day, full of worry and anxiety, and instead of turning to scripture for guidance or asking God for peace, you allow your worry to fester and escalate, which then results in overeating or a night of online shopping? 

I know I am guilty of this... "Yes Coldstone, I would love a ' Gotta Have It' size of cake batter ice cream with peanut butter AND cookie dough because I was worried I left the coffee pot on all day, I couldn't make it to the gym, and gas prices went up. Talk about a stressful day...I earned this." 

Okay sure, those were silly excuses, but you gotta admit, we have all had. Those. Days. We are human - it's going to happen. But Luke 12:25 is such an important reminder - when has anyone added MORE time to their life by worrying? Never. If anything, worrying takes time away from your life. It steals your joy. Like I mentioned earlier, it is preventing us from living our lives to the fullest! 

So let's get to the big picture here. What I learned from our sermon today, is that the ONLY way to get rid of our worries, to stop them from taking over all of our thoughts, is to have faith. Honest, pure, on fire for God, FAITH. 

Hebrews 11:1 says, "Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

We have to trust that God is moving. He is working. He is rooting for us and HE is praying for US... for our faith to not fail in times of need.

No, it isn't easy. Like the verse above says, it is faith in things we hope for and things we can't see. It is accepting the uncertainty but being certain that God will take care of you when you put your full faith in Him. 

One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understandings. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." This verse is one that gets me through my biggest moments of weakness. Though I am clearly not perfect at this, and I will always be working on not worrying about things I cannot control, I will still try every single day to overcome those fears and turn my eyes to what truly matters, putting my full 100% faith in God. Trusting that He will make my paths straight, not matter what twists and turns I may spiral out on in my own head. 

My first step? Making a list of all of the things I was worried about in the past that God took control over and provided peace for me. You never know what you've overcome until you allow yourself to celebrate those accomplishments, no matter how big or small. Even as I am writing this, Victor just turned to me and said, "Isn't our life pretty sweet? We've got a good looking apartment, a working TV, it's warm... and you don't have to live here alone anymore!" And he is right. We are all already so blessed with what God has given us. How dare we worry about Him providing for us when He has already proven time after time again to be there for us every step of the way, even when we don't see it. 

Have questions for me on how I am working through my worries? Email me at beingmadisen@gmail.com and let's chat! If I don't have the answers, I will point you to someone who does. Let's fight our worries and anxiety together and hand them over to God. He is the only one who can help us overcome them.