WE RISE ABOVE THE FOG OF WORRY, TRUSTING IN OUR LORD
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Are your enshrouded by a fog of worry? Are you carrying the weight of your world? Does your anxiousness encompass your thoughts and your life? –
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows. It empties today of its strength.” – Corrie ten Boom
Every day is a gift from God. His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23). The weight of the world is His to bear, not ours. He does not want us wallowing in our past, worrying about our present, dreading our future. We cannot allow our cares and concerns to hinder our spiritual walk.
Our worrisome thoughts can overwhelm us, raise our fears, steal our sleep, lower our immunity, leave us depressed… robbing us of our peace and our joy. They can keep us from reaching out in love to others because we are so wrapped up in ourselves.
Imagine a misty morning… the fog drifts in… feathering around the hills, enveloping the valleys, obscuring our view. As the sun warms the land, the fog dissipates and our view clears. We see all with clarity in the light of the sunshine.
Worry is like fog drifting into our minds. It creeps in quietly, slowly, taking over our thoughts… raising doubts, promoting fears. It causes us to think unreasonably, irrationally… without clarity.
“Do not worry about your life… Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” – Matthew 6:25, 27
Often we rationalize our worrying behavior. We imagine our worries to be so important that they demand our full attention. Yet by our anxious thoughts, we are denying our faith in the omnipotence of our Lord. We are questioning His sovereignty over our lives. We are essentially believing that He is not able to help us.
What if…? “What if’s” can enshroud our minds like a misty fog. We find ourselves thinking about all the possibilities… all the unfavorable scenarios… the endless ways things could go amiss. Negative emotions creep in and we become lost in a fog of worry.
“Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you.” – Psalm 55:22
When we rise above the misty fog, we discover the sun. It is always there, offering its warmth and light, even when we cannot see it. The mistiness obscures the sunshine from our view.
Rising above the fog of worry, we find the Son. He is always there, giving us the warmth of His comfort and the light of His truth, even when we do not recognize His presence. When we allow His light to shine upon our anxious thoughts, they dissipate in His radiance. We discover the peace that only He can give.
“Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Matthew 6:34
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us about the fruitlessness of worry. Worry… anxious thoughts that cause us stress… should not consume our lives. Our Lord longs for us to place all our worries into His hands. We are to absolutely trust Him with everything that concerns us… with no exceptions.
It all comes down to faith… steadfast, resolute, unshakable faith in the only One who can truly help us. We can trust our Creator with the details of our lives. Because of our Lord’s deep love and compassion for us, He desires that we give Him all our worrisome thoughts. He is the One who will sustain us. He will bear our burdens for us.
“Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” – Matthew 6:33
Worry affirms our hopelessness, whereas prayer affirms our hope. When we find ourselves consumed with stressful thoughts, we bring them before the Lord. In prayer, we give Him all our feelings of anxiousness, fear, uncertainty, dread, despair. We take our thoughts captive to Christ.
Often our worries are skewed by our fears and are not based on reality. Our Lord will illuminate the truth to counter our wayward, negative thoughts and untruths. He centers our thoughts on Him, His will and His ways. For He is our antidote to worry.
When we discover worry creeping into our minds like a misty fog, we wield the spiritual weapon of God’s Word. Scripture reminds us how we have been blessed, forgiven and renewed by Christ. We speak His truth to evaporate the fog of worrisome thoughts.
“When I was burdened with worries, You comforted me and made me feel secure.” – Psalm 94:19
When our minds are centered on Christ… when we are following hard after Him… He will be our Provider, our Protector, our Deliverer. We tap into His omnipotence to take care of all that worries us, trusting Him with the outcome. We live each day for Him, placing all our anxious thoughts in His hands.
Let the blessed presence of Christ clear away the fog of worry that enshrouds you. Let Him help you rise above the mistiness to the sunlight of His truth. Let His peace reign in your life. Allow the Lord of your life to be your antidote to worry.
