Times of Worries
We live in times that are
filled with stress, worry and anxiety. In the US there has been an alarming
increase in the number of suicides among middle age men. In fact there are more
people dying from suicides than from car accidents today. We live in a world
that is full of noise and demands that over time can cause us to slip into the
use or abuse of alcohol, prescription drugs, or illicit drugs. As Christians we
have to find ways to keep our hearts and minds open to the warning signs that present
themselves in the thoughts and feelings of our friends and families.
The serenity prayer has been
down through the ages a healing prayer that has touched many of our lives and
brought peace in times of conflict and tragedy. It is a prayer to God to give
us the peace to accept the things we cannot change. When tragedy or a natural
disaster comes upon us unawares, what do we do? Sometimes there is nothing we
can do but pick up the pieces and then figure out with the grace of God to find
understanding through it all.
The second part of the prayer
is for strength to overcome that, which can be overcome. There are so many situations we find ourselves in,
which are difficult that causes us to start to worry. Jesus said could we add a single moment to our lives if we
were to worry (Matthew 6:27)? What causes worry?
Some worries can be bad and others
stimulating and useful. All of us carry with us a bag of worries, some, which
are chronic, and some that come and go at the speed of thought. There are some of us who are
constantly bogged down with financial stress. There are many who feel that they
have not achieved all that they hoped they could in their life. There are others
who are stressed about their children or parents trials and tribulations.
How do we as followers of
Christ find ways to stay calm and focused? When our fears overwhelm us we have
to find ways to deal with them. If they become a chronic problem, settle on the
mind like a cloud what do we do?
Jesus says can the lilies of
the field worry about what they wear (Matthew 6:28)? Has not God provided for them? As
Christians what are some of the gifts that God has given us to ease our
worries?
Do we find time to commune
with the skies, seas, trees, rivers and creatures? Do we see in them the loving
hand of God working to make something of beauty and grandeur? Do we have a
friend or spouse we can confide in? Do we have a support group we can voice our
fears and joys?
God has created us to love
and be loved. How can we be good stewards of love in our lives? We must build bonds
of love that reinvigorate us and enable us to live lives that are thankful in
the sight of God. Find time to listen to the soothing sounds of nature, the
calming music of instruments, or the hymns of praise and thanksgiving. These
will bring comfort and strength in our moments of worry strain or anxiety.
Prayer becomes a healing
prayer when we surrender all our anxieties to God and in so doing God fills our
lives with peace that transcends all understanding. If we have nothing to be
thankful for we are really starved and in tremendous danger of our fears
overwhelming us. Integral to the process of healing from our fears and worries
is the need for thanksgiving. If we learn to find time for thanksgiving, we will
find peace.
We must learn to trust in God
and God's goodness. We need to realize that God is watching over us. In
so doing we will find that our worries slowly subside through our prayers and petitions. We ask God to ease our fears and anxieties and fill our lives with the
gift of peace, love and joy. We pray for wisdom and strength to change the
things we can. In so doing we have the understanding to know the difference
between the things we can change and those we cannot. In times of tragedy and
conflict the meaningful repetition of the serenity prayer can guide us and bring healing to many facets of our lives.
4 comments:
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.1 Peter 5:7
God wants to bring peace into our lives. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God if we learn to trust in him.
God does not hold us accountable for our past sins if we seek forgiveness. Let us entrust all our guilt and fears to God's hands and trust that God will forgive and forget as well. God does not want us to carry these burdens of guilt with us all our lives. Let us believe that he cares for us and will pardon us for our sins.
A farmer stood in his fields and said, “I do not know what will happen to us all. The wheat will be destroyed if this rain
keeps on. We shall not have any harvest at all unless we have some fine weather.” He walked up and down, wringing his
hands, fretting and making his whole household uncomfortable. And he did not produce one single gleam of sunlight by
all his worrying—he could not puff any of the clouds away with all his petulant speech, nor could he stop a drop of rain
with all his murmurings.
What is the good of it, then, to keep gnawing at your own heart, when you can get nothing by it? Besides, it weakens
our power to help ourselves and especially our power to glorify God. A care-full heart hinders us from judging rightly in
many things. I have often used the illustration (I do not know a better) of taking a telescope, breathing on it with the hot
breath of our anxiety, putting it to our eye and then saying that we cannot see anything but clouds! Of course we cannot,
and we never shall while we breathe upon it. If we were but calm, quiet, self-possessed and God-possessed, we would do the
right thing. We would be, as we say, “all there,” in the time of difficulty. That man may expect to have presence of mind
who has the Presence of God. If we forget to pray, do you wonder that we are all in a fidget and a worry, and we do the
first thing that occurs to us—which is generally the worst thing—instead of waiting till we saw what would be done and
then trustfully and believingly doing it as in the sight of God? Care, or worry, is injurious, but if you only turn this care
into prayer, then every worry will be a benefit to you
Worry is a human emotion like sorrow, hatred, joy and laughter.We develop this from childhood. Depends a lot on the circumstances when we grow. But we can control these emotions with our will power and faith.
Father in Heaven we thank you for your mercies that you shower on us. We thank you for helping us to understand your love and kindness towards us. Help us not to worry about the future, but when we do give us faith to trust in you against all odds. Strengthen us in your power to overcome all the worries. We give thanks for everything that comes our way. Help us to do our part in the work of your Kingdom. Amen
"Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life!" (Prov.4:23)
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