I heard an outstanding sermon today on 1 Peter 5:6-11. There was discussion on worry, and the anxiousness it causes in our hearts. Several things jumped out at me because I had been thinking about things along these lines in the last few days. "And after you have suffered a little while,..." Those words - a little while - don't always seem like a little while. As friends are fighting deadly diseases, it seems their pain goes on a long while. But when compared to eternity, our lives - good and bad times - are indeed a little while. I was thinking earlier in the week how our lives can change in an instant. One day all is peachy--then a terrible diagnosis, a super scary car wreck (for us), a loss of a job...the list is endless. But sometimes the reverse is true as well...if I close my eyes, I can imagine walking down the hall and finding toddlers in the living room watching cartoons. But in fact, my children are adults now. The time went by like the blink of an eye.
My husband discussed worry, how it turns around and around in you head going nowhere and accomplishing nothing. He pointed out how this make us feel anxious, and how we become subject to the temptations of the devil when we're full of anxiety. Now I'm not a big worrier, and I don't often feel anxious...just not in my personality I guess. But when I do worry and feel anxious - WOW - not a good feeling. It feels like my head is spinning out of control and my heart pounds and frankly I don't like that feeling. What I learned today is that feeling comes because I'm trying too hard to handle thinks myself, rather than leaving them on Christ's shoulders. No wonder I'm anxious - trying to do God's job - when I'm definitely NOT God! Who could succeed at that? No one but God. So I think I'll work hard at letting God be God, and trying to listen and follow his lead.
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