"Worry....

.....Been Doggin' My Soul, Since The Day I Was Born" There's a little Ray LaMontagne for you. And really, the lyrics say "Trouble" been doggin my soul, not "worry" ("worry" is in the next stanza, and those words aren't as applicable to my blog post, so I swapped them. So what?) Anyway, as I mentioned in a previous post, I struggle a lot with worry, and always have. Pretty much for as long as I can remember, I go through these "seasons" of worry, where I ruminate on some certain fear, and like a hamster in a cage, my brain just keeps going around and around and around and around thinking about it. It's really quite exhausting. Then I go through seasons where I'm really not such a worrisome person, and that's a nice break for a while, but inevitably, something will trigger the worry, and back it comes. So, one thing I spent my planning day on yesterday, was thinking through some lessons I had learned in 2011, and ways that God had really grown me. I think I made some big strides in my "worry issue" this year, probably bigger breakthroughs than ever before, because God taught me some big things (some of these things seem so simple, obvious, and "duh"-ish, but they suddenly made new sense to me):

1) God actually COMMANDS me not to worry ("DO NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING....." Phillipians 4:6-7) So if I choose to worry, that is a sin. If God gives me a command, then He'll give me the ability to keep that command. So if I find myself worrying, it's because I'm CHOOSING to.

2) God DESIRES for me to live free from worry ("Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to 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)

3) I WILL have problems/trials in this life. There's no sense in sitting around worrying about it. I just WILL. It's not heaven, it's earth, so why should I even have the expectation that it will be problem free? God allows certain trials in my life, because it's a huge way for me to grow, and become more like Him (which is His biggest goal), and I need to want that, more than I want to have a comfortable, problem-free life.

4) "God gives us His grace [to deal with problems/trials/crises] IN THE HOUR THAT WE NEED IT. If we worry about the future now, we double our pain, without the grace to deal with it" (I can't remember where I read that quote, but I liked it, and it really stuck with me).

ANYWAY....I learned a whole lot more about this issue of worry over the last several months, but these are the main four points, I think. Bottom line is, it's encouraging to me to realize that I don't HAVE to be characterized as a "worrisome person". I actually CAN overcome it, and I intend to!