I'll tell you true that every mother worries about their children and I was no different and even yet there are moments when that worry will rise up in my mind like a specter.
But...awhile back I found myself worrying about news stories I had read and about my children and their spiritual lives and so I prayed about it. God led me to these verses and put it on my heart to apply these verses and see if He is faithful to His promises...and He was and IS!
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4: 4-7
I applied these verses and practiced applying them until I give over my worry much more quickly than I did at first, as one gets better at anything with practice. A lot of folks will read that and say, "Yeah, yeah, easier said than done...." but I found that He really and truly gives me a peace that I can't really understand, it's that overwhelming and all encompassing! Now that I've experienced it, I just have to have more and more, so it sort of acts like a positive reinforcement to practice giving my anxieties over to Him. Some days I just walk around in a warm blanket of that peace and it feels like I'm walking feet above the ground, as if I'm walking in the hand of God Himself.
Mom and I will sit around and speak of that peace and joy in tones of awe and wonder, as we don't feel worthy of it all, nor do we understand how we can experience such things in a world filled with turmoil....but we have it, it's real, it's lasting and consistent, and it's all because we obey these verses and apply them immediately a worry starts to niggle in our minds.
It's sort of like the weather...all winter long I've heard folks whine and complain about the snow and cold, even though winter comes every single year and it should be expected by now. Never a good word to say about the beauty of the snow, the good aspects of their lives in the midst of it all~like warm clothing, warm shelter, abundant food and fuel, etc. Just complaining and nothing much else.
Then the snow melts and the sun comes out and, sure enough, the same people are complaining of the mud. It becomes a habit, you see...this attitude of complaining and ingratitude towards the Lord for what He has provided in their lives.
The same goes for worry. It becomes a bad habit and like all bad habits, it's hard to break and takes practice and determination, but it CAN be done with the help of the Holy Spirit. One cannot do it alone, as the verses imply~
with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving~so it comes with certain instructions that will insure success. If we try and try on our own power, we will surely fail but if we ask for help~supplicate~ and thank God for all things, He will be faithful to us and provide the peace and take away our worry.
The God who made our children is capable of ordering the pathways of their lives more than we ever could do it and that's where the faith in His power to do so comes in. I hope these verses help you like they have helped me, as I was born to worrying parents and have been a worrying kinda woman for most of my life, but not now and not ever again now that I know what this "peace that surpasses all understanding" really feels like. It feels just like floating!
,Britesea ....no worries, just hand it to God and let Him give you rest over it.
