Musings on Marriage

Tag: Worry

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Dear Daughters,

Some of you may remember the song Don’t Worry, Be Happy which won song of the year at the Grammy Awards in 1989.  It’s got a cool Caribbean beat, and Bobbie McFerrin sings a cappella about the wonderful freedom of being happy, not worrying about a thing.  Even when your bed is taken away, your rent is overdue, no cash, no style, no gal to make you smile, Bobbie tells us to have no worries… just be happy.

I loved that song and would sing along with it as we were living among the beautiful wheat and sunflower fields in Kansas – on my good days.  But on difficult days when I was struggling with raising you four girls and trying to navigate my place in a town far away from the city where I had become comfortable, the song would be of little help.

It’s great to sing happy songs on care-free days when all the world is setting right, but quite another feat to sing when we are worried about buying groceries and gas in a world of inflation.

According to the researchers who study worry, they found 70% – 80% of the thoughts running through the average person’s head at any given time, were based on events which have happened in the past or those events which may happen in the future.  This would include all of the woulda, shoulda  coulda accusations we run through on repeat in our heads for far too many of our days.  Thoughts about regrets, labeling ourselves as a problem or a nuisance, can overwhelm and often freeze us from what we need to do in the present.

Then there are those thoughts about the future: will we have enough money to buy gas and groceries this month?  What will this world be like for our children and grandchildren as they grow up in such divisive times?  Will my friends betray me, will my family disown me?  And then the famous FOMO – the fear of missing out .…and the list goes on.

But in contrast to all these worries, we find this wise advice which Jesus spoke several thousand years ago:

Don’t worry about missing out. 

You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now,

and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.

  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up

when the time comes.                              

Matthew 6:34 (The Message)

So, what do we replace worry with?  We are told not to worry, but how?  I have found the best antidote to worry is worship.  God has continually promised that He will provide, He will never leave us nor forsake us, He loves us – all we need do is trust.  So, what could be better than singing – about God’s faithfulness, and His Holy Spirit who lives in us wherever we go?

Clouds

Remember the Israelites as they were fleeing from Egypt while Pharaoh and his army were in swift pursuit after them?  They were caught between the Red Sea in front of them and an angry bunch of warriors riding 600 chariots charging quickly behind, hoping to bring them back into the slavery they had just escaped.  The Israelites were panicking and fearful – they started railing against Moses, blaming him for leading them out, saying they would be better off as slaves, blah blah blah. Aren’t we often like that when things go wrong – we try to find someone else to blame?

Anyway, Moses spoke to the people and said,

Don’t be afraid. 

God will fight the battle for you.

And you?  You keep your mouths shut! 

Exodus 14:14 (The Message)

We know the rest of the story.  In a surprising military tactic, God had a strong east wind blow all night long and the Red Sea split open so the Israelites could walk right through it on dry ground. 

When they were safely on the other side they sang a rousing song of thanks, Moses’ sister Miriam leading the women with their tambourines in dancing and singing about their safety and victory over the Egyptians.  The words are recorded in Exodus and it must have been a beautiful sight to see every one singing and dancing for joy.  And since we have a Bible full of stories about God providing for His people through thousands of years, could we by faith sing songs and dance for victory before our prayers are answered?

How would it be if instead of worrying about the past or the future, we could worship God in the present – knowing for sure that our Heavenly Father cares for us, believing He is kind and in His time will bring justice and good answers to our many prayers? 

Bobbie McFerrin’s song is great advice, but I think we need to know why we don’t need to worry.  We can replace our worries with worship, knowing that the best is yet to come.  Then we can be joyful, content, and live in the present instead of the past or the future.

Love,

Mom

A Busy God Box

Dear Daughters,

A few weeks ago I wrote about the God Box – the act of physically casting our cares and worries on Jesus.  The idea is to get a little box and some small pieces of paper and write the names of the people or things you worry about on each piece.  Then one by one, place those worries in the God Box and leave them for Him to take care of.  But…if you start worrying about something listed on one of those papers, take it out and tell God you don’t trust Him with that specific person or situation and you will worry about it again – thank you very much. This is Craig Groeschel’s very practical idea from his book Winning the War in Your Mind.

Well, one of my dear friends who tends to worry more than she would like, actually decided to get a box and fill it with her worries.  I was so pleased to hear about it, but a few days later she texted some pictures lamenting that it had become a busy God box.  She would throw a name in but would soon find herself worrying about the very things and people she had just put in:

What about this?

What about that?

But what happens when…

So the lid came off, the paper came out, and the worrying would start again.  But, of course, that action in itself feels a bit silly because then it becomes blatantly obvious that our trust is waning.  So, the next step is to put the paper back in the box and give it back to God – where it belongs.

Out of the God Box, into the God Box.  Trust again.

Out of the Box, into the Box.  Trust some more.

It can get to be rather exhausting putting it in and taking it out, but our Father is so patient with us as we learn to trust over and over.

We have absolutely no control over anyone but ourself, no control over any circumstance which comes our way, but we do have control over how we will respond to whatever happens in our life.

When Jesus walked the earth, He repeatedly reminded us that He cares for the sparrows, the lilies of the field, all the creatures of the world.  If He cares for the grass of the field, which is here today and gone tomorrow, will He not care for you who is so much more important than the grass of the field or the birds of the air?  So why not cast your cares on Him?  Why not write down what keeps us awake at night, what consumes our thoughts with anxiety from the minute we wake up in the morning – and place it in the God Box? 

We were not created to carry the heavy yoke the world places on us or that we place on ourselves.  Only our Creator God is able to carry it all.

As Erma Bombeck says:

Worrying is like a rocking chair.  It gives you something to do, but doesn’t get you anywhere.

Sometimes it seems that our slips of paper in the God Box are turning yellow with age, but just when we think all is lost and God has forgotten us, the answer will come.  And never a moment too soon – or too late.  It may not be the answer we want, but it will inevitably be something greater than what we can imagine. Plus an added bonus – we will be able to live in peace.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or imagine, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations for ever and ever, AMEN. 

Ephesians 3:20-21

Love, Mom

The God Box

Dear Daughters,

Did you know that on average you make 35,000 choices every day?  I had no idea, but that’s what the research says.  You can choose to get out of bed in the morning, choose to smile, choose to be kind to your husband and choose to say “thank you” to the people around you. 

You can also choose to worry – about what your friend thinks of you, worry about wearing the right clothes, about whether or not you will get Covid, about what your children are doing…  the possibilities are endless.

To worry or not to worry?  That is the question.

Our human default is worry. 

We are faced with two basic choices every day.  We have a choice to worry about how we’re going to figure out tomorrow

– or –

 we can choose to trust God and cast those worries on Jesus.

Craig Groeschel recently wrote a book Winning the War in Your Mind, teaching about those very things.  One specific example he gives is an incredibly easy and tangible way to be thinking about what you are thinking.  Craig suggests making a God Box.  It can be a shoebox, an Amazon box, or any other little box you may have lying around.  On the outside of the box write the word God.  Any time you have a runaway thought, a worry or a temptation, write it down on a piece of paper and throw it in the God Box.

You might write something like:

I’m afraid there won’t be enough money to cover the bills

I’m worried about my 17 year-old

What if our business fails?

I’m afraid of what may happen to my children when I am not around

I’m worried about my health, what if I never get better?

Will there be enough food for all?

Will my friend ever forgive me?

So, when you write each of these worries on a piece of paper and put it in the God Box, you could say:

God, I know you’re bigger than all these problems and I will trust you with them.  I can do nothing to fix anything, and so I give them all to you.  I don’t want to expend my mental real estate focusing on all these issues I cannot change, so I give them to you.

Once you pray and give it to God, go on with your life.

But… says Craig, if you decide you want to worry about something you’ve already put in the God box, open it up take out that slip of paper and say to God,

I don’t trust you any more with this item so I’m going to worry some more about it.

You may think that sounds like a rude thing to say to God, but in effect that’s what we’re saying when we fill our mind with worry.  The apostle Peter tells us to cast all your cares upon God for He cares for you.  Our thoughts seek to betray us, and doubts pop into our mind, but we have a choice whether we will worry about stuff, or live a life of trust and dependence on God. 

If you don’t have a box, use a bag and call it your God Bag.  Something, anything to remind you to quit worrying about things you can do nothing about. 

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we will receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16

Love, Mom

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