Worry: Borrowing Tomorrow’s Trouble, Today

Worry: Borrowing Tomorrow’s Trouble, Today

I am really good at worry.  Personally, I worry whenever I get a chance.  I go big or go home, where I also worry.   Chalk it up to my Texan heritage.

Here in Texas, we have some creative expressions.

Truth be told, they are genius, but for the drawl. Which makes them sound a little, well less than Shakespearean.

My father-in-law, God bless him, had some doozies.  Truthfully, we use them to this day.  Actually, I have heard the originals, our four biological children use them on occasion.

Truly, when something doesn’t fit, or a plan doesn’t work, there is no better saying than, “Well, that fit like socks on a rooster.”

Genius.

Yes, there are some we wish they wouldn’t repeat.  Indeed, it is most hard to get a note from the Pre-K teacher informing us that, Charlie, our four-year-old, threatened to “kick a classmate’s lung out.”

My bad.

But, just because you put kittens in the oven, it don’t make them biscuits.  And while I have come to believe I am a pretty good mom, I am not biscuits.  Wait, what?

And it is of little comfort to hear, “It will feel so much better when it quits hurtin’.”  Which, of course, isn’t any better than, “I have had worse places on my eye… and could still whistle.”

Again, there are passive, somewhat ludicrous things we say to get by, hold us over, or make light of that which is, altogether, too heavy.

Of the sayings, both submissive and absurd, the one I remember the most, the one I can’t seem to shake, is this gem, “Don’t borrow tomorrow’s eggs from today’s chickens.” Which loosely translated means, “stop borrowing tomorrow’s troubles for today’s problems.”

Truly, it is indicative of tomorrow stinking as bad as today.  But I am most convicted, this is not how believers should be living.

No, we should be living, high on the hog.

And yes, I should be speaking for me, not you. However, I know many of you are much like me.  We are worried.  At the core of every worry, we are usually most worried about, our children, our marriages, health, finances, and the general state of humanity.

Indeed, those things, are all substantial.  Truthfully, they are not easy to just forget.

There is faith in a God who saves.  But time and again, we have seen Him not save, the way we hoped and prayed He would.

Undeniably, love protects.  It cuts grapes and hot dogs into tiny pieces. Faithfully it teaches stranger danger and to look both ways before crossing. Yes, love, teaches.  And yes, love gives wisdom and correction.  But it also trusts.

I would like to propose, and no, I am not the first, trust is the antidote to worry.

Absolutely, especially in seasons that are most trying, trust seems a lot further down the road, and worry is easily manifested.

Worry is louder, more brazen, and much harsher, than trust.  Trust is surrender. And, by all accounts, surrender seems like being as lazy a cat lying in the sun.

For years I had myself convinced that worry was just obsessive problem-solving.  The more I focused on my fears, the more likely I could resolve them. Perhaps I believed I was trying to come up with a solution.  However, this was not the case.

I just used that as an excuse to focus on the worry, because, at least that seemed proactive.  I wasn’t just a bump on a log.

Fully convinced, I would come up with something, anything to ease my battle. And this is how I justified my worry.  Wholly ignoring, worry was and is simply a lack of faith.

And while I could not do a single thing to separate myself from this loving God, who gave His only precious Son, so that we could be together forever, that was all He ever asked of me… faith.

Of all the worries, scares, and concerns, the righteous are counted righteous simply because we believe.

Unfortunately, worry breeds worry.

We are worried that we are worried, and worried we worry too much.  We worry that we have offended our God, a Father who knows, who loves and adores.

He came to offer peace, but I worry that I have worried away the gift and that gives me pause, to worry.

Recently I had a big worry.  Throughout the day I confessed this concern. I worried about the worry, and I worried that I was worried.  I only want to please this God.  I simply want to be counted worthy for my faith.  But His watch does not seem to coincide with the things I am most worried about.

This, above all, worries me.

Unable to let go, and simply believe, I opened my bible and saw, it is totally within reason, scriptural truth, that I can ask for help with this unbelief.

Mark 9:23-24

 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Yes Lord, help my unbelief.

And then, there is surrender.

The sweet surrender of both my worry… and my belief.

Perhaps the greatest lie I have chosen to believe is that I am in trouble, or separated from this loving Father, by my meager humanness.

Yes… help my unbelief.  Help my pain, help my trial, help my worry, and in doing so, show yourself, and help my unbelief.   Without this truth, without this hope, all that is left is my worry. 

I know me pretty well.

And when He answered, with the promise of resolution, a promise that He had a plan, I questioned His voice, His promise, and His sovereign ways.

So I asked Him again.

He answered the same.

And reminded me of the difference between my voice and His.

My voice is harsh, it condemns and criticizes.  God’s voice is gentle, corrective, and kind.

My voice is steeped in worry, it cracks under the stress.

His voice is positive and altogether just.

And so I asked Him again, “help my unbelief.”

Unmistakably He answered, “I already did.”

And that was Him… certainly not me.

So, I chose to believe.

I believe more in His existence and calming presence than I do in my frantic tactics.

So, I asked Him to open the floodgates so I might be free.  He answered again.  “I already did.”

And I chose to believe.

I heard again, and I know it was Him. “Get off of the shore, jump in and drink deep.  I am here with you now, and I will never leave.”

Again, I chose to believe.

The more I believed, the less that I worried, the less I worried, the more I believed.

This is why He came and died.  So that I might finally be free.  Free from all the worry.

So when you are worried, ask Him to help you.  Ask God, the God who loved you unto His death, to not just answer your worries, but to show up, show off, and help your unbelief.  Lean in, dive deep, and drink up, that which He came to give.

[bctt tweet=”This is why He came and died.  So that I might finally be free.  Free from all the worry. ” quote=”This is why He came and died.  So that I might finally be free.  Free from all the worry. “]

Next… wait for the peace that surpasses understanding. Wait, without worry, He hears, and He knows.  This is the bounty, the gift of your faith.  Like a broken record, whisper the prayers that affirm, and become your truth wholly.

Friend, this is pure joy.  I promise you’ll be happier than a tornado in a trailer park.

May your floors be sticky and your calling ordained.  Love, Jami

Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

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