Chapter eight's title is very interesting. Have you ever heard this before? By the end of the chapter, I'm sure Linda will explain it. I come from a family of worriers. Worrying is in my blood! But I have learned to accept God's Peace and stop worrying. I still find worry trying to overtake me, but instead of buying into it, I turn to God.
Praise God for his Awesome Peace!
XOXO
Libby
I think that worrying has become such a normal and perpetual thing in my life anymore that I rarely even realize when and how often I do it. In my mind I feel like I don't worry that much. I mean, what's the use? And it's true, but then when I break down my thoughts of the day I realize that pretty much all I do is worry and I don't even realize it. I really like the action methods that Linda laid out to help remedy this problem that most people seem to face. I'm a very plan-oriented person and I love lists so when people give me lists on how to improve upon something in my life it's pretty exciting for me(: haha.
ReplyDeleteI definitely feel like this has always been the biggest thing I need to work on in my spiritual life though. I need to learn to let my mind and heart be at peace with whatever God is planning. Especially now in my life I am perpetually worrying about what sort of job I should get, if I'm ever going to find a guy I can even stand to date let alone marry, if I'm going to stay in touch with friends, where I should live, etc. etc. And let's be honest, worrying gets us absolutely no where.
I pray that all of us will be able to actively pursue worry-free lives and will turn everything over to God and trust in Him whole heartedly.
I don't typically think of myself as someone who worries a lot but this chapter has made me realize that I probably worry a lot more than I am aware of.
ReplyDelete1 Peter 5:6-7(NIV)says, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." I love what Linda says about this verse on page 132... "Humility means to have total trust in God alone. It is the surrender of our total being- intellect, emotion, will, plans, and judgement. It is relinquishing everything. For me, humbling myself involves yielding to God... whatever situation or person is causing me anxiety." Could it be that anxiety is a result of pride? This is something that I have never really thought about before.
Linda brings up on page 131 something that Kenneth Wuest wrote, "... We commit sin when we worry. We do not trust God when we worry. We do not receive answers to prayer when we worry, because we are not trusting." This is deep. It seems to me that in our culture, even the Christian culture, anxiety is normal and widely accepted... but what if we took the mindset in which Kenneth Wuest wrote? Would we strive to worry less and trust God more?
Linda writes, "Worry doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength." I love Linda's idea on page 134 about writing down all of our anxiety and then giving the anxiety to God. How freeing does that sound?