Anxious Thoughts

I'm not normally a big worrier, so I was perplexed when I woke up at 5:00 on Tuesday morning (my day off!) worrying about something. After a few vicious cycles of the mind, I realized that the worry was unproductive, so I invoked 1 Peter 5:7, "Cast all your cares on him, because he cares for you."

"God, I'm laying this at your feet; can I go back to sleep now?"

As you could guess, the worry didn't go away.

Next, I tried thinking about something else, but the worry kept creeping back in.

I had to get more radical, and I decided to begin applying specific Scriptures to my worry. First came Psalm 23. This isn't even close to the valley of the shadow of death, so I can certainly fear no evil. Then Jeremiah 29:11 and Psalm 139 - my uncertainty is no surprise to God, and he's ordained the ultimate outcome, even though mine and others' choices are the more immediately apparent reasons for the circumstance. Finally, 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My power is made perfect in your weakness." Worst case scenario is that I screw up big time: God is still in it for good.

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The somewhat ironic conclusion to this whole episode is that I wasn't expecting a "resolution" until late next week, but it was "case closed" yesterday before lunch. One might conclude that I was worried for naught; the truth is that all worry is for naught (Matt. 6:27).