This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Matthew 6:25
The Lie We Believe: Worrying about what everyone else is doing will make a difference
The Truth: Worry fixes nothing
I’m a professional worrier. I start worrying a solid week before a work trip about what I’m going to pack, how I’m going to get to the airport, who will pick me up, where we’ll eat, and what might happen if things don’t work perfectly. I worry when I see the note at daycare that says someone has something that Madi might get. Y’all. Nothing makes me worry more than a stomach virus.
Except maybe lice.
I worry that I didn’t do a very good job in an interview. I worry that my application isn’t good enough. I worry that I’ve somehow falsely convinced the world that I’m really good at things that I just happen to like, so I really don’t have any valuable skills – just hobbies. And when the rejections come through (and oh, friend. This has been a season of them), I worry that I’ll never be able to be enough, do enough, support my family enough.
What if all this work has been for nothing?
What if my dreams really don’t matter?
And then there it is. The announcement at church about the amazing women speaking at a conference. The announcement from a friend about her dream job. Watching someone get another invitation, another opportunity, another book deal. I spend so much time worrying about what everyone else is doing that I forget to actually DO the work God has called me to do!
God tells us clearly that worry and anxiety don’t do anything productive. His job is to provide what we need – our job is most certainly NOT to worry about what we want. When I can remember to ask God to show me what His best is for me, my eyes stop darting around in envy to what everyone else is doing and I can believe that where I am and what I’m doing is good.
Questions:
- Are you a worrier?
- What are some other Scriptures that help you worry less?
- Do you usually pray for what you want, or for God to reveal what you need?