World Class Worrier

My mother was a world-class worrier. I remember going on a particular vacation to an outdoor attraction in Central Florida as a child (no, it was not Disney World). My mom kept peering into the sky and commenting on the clouds in the distance. They looked like rain clouds to her. "Shouldn't we abbreviate our day and get back to our accommodations before we get caught out in the rain?" She brought this up several times during our day. To the point my dad declared her to be "a pessimistic cloud-watching worry-wart." And it stuck from then on. It seemed she was never in need of something to worry about. It was just her way.

And she came by it honestly. Her mother (my grandmother) before her was a whole tier above that in the worrying department. On another vacation to Central Florida, with my grandparents in tow, we decided to go to the beach. My grandmother was just intent that it was a bad idea because she would burn. However, my father had secured a couple of umbrellas and chairs for her comfort and shading. This was when she declared, that the wind would blow the sun rays up under the umbrella.

It seems, dear friends, that I have inherited this trait. I worry about my family, my health, about whether or not my husband will be involved in a car crash on his five-minute drive to Walmart to pick up milk. And if I run out of things to fret about, I will make up new things. There never seems to be a shortage.

We moms sure can find endless reasons to worry...finances, kids, our marriages, health, the future...

But you know, I believe about 99% of the things I've feared have never come to pass. Thought I've spent plenty of time fretting about them. How much productive time I've wasted! What if I had turned to worship instead of worry?

Let's look at Proverbs 31:25...

She laughs at the days to come...not in a careless sort of way, but with a confidence that comes from knowing and trusting God; because she wears a strength and dignity due to her faith in God. God's faithfulness in the past assures her that He will work out circumstances in the future...that HIS grace for the moment....every moment...in that moment.

God can grow your faith in those moments when you would otherwise worry...if you let Him...if we turn our fear into prayer and praise, trusting His plan and His timing...our relationship with God will be strengthened.