October 13, 2020
Letting Go Of Worrying
Barb Roose
Today’s Truth
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. (1 Peter 5:7, NLT)
Friend to Friend
Why did I let my mind go there AGAIN?
There I stood, in my kitchen, swiping at the tears rolling down my face. Was I crying about something that had just happened? No. I sobbed about a horrible movie generated in my mind about one of my girls getting into a bad car accident as she drove to a friend’s house.
That mental movie was so graphic, so real. I could see the accident scene and myself running and screaming toward a mangled car with hazy smoke rising from the wreck. I could feel the EMT’s pulling me away. I could hear my screams in my mind. My heart pounded and tears streamed down my face. Why does this feel so real, even though it’s only in my mind?
Do you ever make-up awful mental movies in your mind about bad things happening?
I call those negative mental movies WorryFlix. While you never get billed for WorryFlix, watching it is very costly. Like your favorite streaming-video service, WorryFlix serves up episode after episode of unhappy endings to whatever problem that you or a loved one is facing. If you watch enough WorryFlix each day, you’re likely worn out, discouraged and feeling pretty desperate.
Worn out. Discouraged. Desperate. That describes how the Israelites were feeling after escaping Egypt.
3 “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.” -Exodus 16:3 NLT
They’d only been in the wilderness for a short period of time, but they’d forgotten God’s faithfulness. While the ancient people lived long ago, they didn’t need sophisticated technology to play their own mental movies of running out of food, water or dying in the wilderness. They were watching endless mental episodes of WorryFlix and it was wearing them out!
Thankfully, WorryFlix isn’t the only channel. God’s got a better viewing option for us!
Letting go of worry means that you cancel your WorryFlix subscription and switch to GodFlix, which is a mindset channel that plays new episodes starring God’s promises for your life. You see yourself or your loved ones in God’s presence, experiencing His power and resting in His provision.
Yes, it’s hard to flip that channel! But you can do it! Here’s one powerful verse that offers helpful instructions on to experience a powerful remove-and-replace operation when it comes to letting go of worry:
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. -1 Peter 5:7
First, take your worry thoughts and give them to God. He knows that you feel weighted down and discouraged by what you can’t control. God wants to exchange your heavy weights for His peace and promises.
Second, give ALL your worry thoughts to God. Too often, we say, “God, I’ll give you my worries about my job and my health, but I’ll keep stressing out about my finances.” Using a different metaphor, worry is like black mold. If you hold onto one or two worries, all of your worry problems will grow back!
Third, when you let go of worry, replace that mental space with gratitude. Look out for where God is already taking care of you. He is faithful and He won’t let you down in the future!
Letting go of worry isn’t easy, but it is worth it. By the way, you don’t have to beat yourself up for worrying. God knows that sometimes we’re going to worry, but He doesn’t want us to hold onto the crushing weight of worry in our lives. When you realize that you’re watching WorryFlix, change the channel by starting with the words: “God, I’m canceling WorryFlix and I choose to focus on You.” Remember, you can always let go and give your worries to God!
Let’s Pray
Dear God, I need to let go of my worry! I’m tired of being worn out by WorryFlix whenever I think about what I can’t control. I’m giving all of my worries and cares about _____________________ to you today. Instead of worrying about what will happen, I will focus on Your promises and remember that You care about me and everyone that I love.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Try “1+1 Prayer” today whenever WorryFlix fires up. Follow-up up every worry with prayer until you begin to pray first instead of worry.
What worries and cares to you need to give to God today day?
Are there one or two worries that are hard to give up? Why?
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Originally published Tuesday, 13 October 2020.
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