Stop Worrying
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” - John 14:27
Over the last few days, we have talked about the time in between where you are now and where you want to be. You know, on the other side of God’s promise for you. You might have a promise you have claimed from God. You know there is something big He is going to do in your life. You just do not know when it is going to come to fruition. So, what do you do in the meantime?
As we wait on God in this “meantime,” there are three specific things we want to be doing. The first thing we must do while waiting is to stop worrying. In 1 Samuel 1, we see a woman who is childless and becomes very worried, wondering if she will ever have the baby her heart so desperately desires. Moreover, she is teased for her childlessness by her husband Elkanah’s other wife, Peninnah.
The text says the teasing got so bad that Hannah would cry, and she would not eat. She became depressed. She was discouraged, and that happens when we allow the situation to overwhelm us, and when we allow what others are saying about us, to get to us emotionally.
When we center our attention on what we cannot change, and become preoccupied with other people’s opinion, we become externally focused rather than internally focused. The serenity prayer says, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Serenity means to be at peace, to be calm, and the prayer is about the ability to be self-regulated rather than being controlled by circumstances and people that are beyond our control. Worry is like sitting in a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere. Worry is an internal obsession about stuff in our external world that you do not control, and in the process, it undermines your confidence and trust in God.
God is not asking you to control the situation while you wait on Him. He wants you to trust Him. And to trust Him, you must first stop worrying!
Over the last few days, we have talked about the time in between where you are now and where you want to be. You know, on the other side of God’s promise for you. You might have a promise you have claimed from God. You know there is something big He is going to do in your life. You just do not know when it is going to come to fruition. So, what do you do in the meantime?
As we wait on God in this “meantime,” there are three specific things we want to be doing. The first thing we must do while waiting is to stop worrying. In 1 Samuel 1, we see a woman who is childless and becomes very worried, wondering if she will ever have the baby her heart so desperately desires. Moreover, she is teased for her childlessness by her husband Elkanah’s other wife, Peninnah.
The text says the teasing got so bad that Hannah would cry, and she would not eat. She became depressed. She was discouraged, and that happens when we allow the situation to overwhelm us, and when we allow what others are saying about us, to get to us emotionally.
When we center our attention on what we cannot change, and become preoccupied with other people’s opinion, we become externally focused rather than internally focused. The serenity prayer says, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Serenity means to be at peace, to be calm, and the prayer is about the ability to be self-regulated rather than being controlled by circumstances and people that are beyond our control. Worry is like sitting in a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere. Worry is an internal obsession about stuff in our external world that you do not control, and in the process, it undermines your confidence and trust in God.
God is not asking you to control the situation while you wait on Him. He wants you to trust Him. And to trust Him, you must first stop worrying!
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