One of my all time favourite sayings is "Worry is like a rocking chair – it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you anywhere!" How very true! I don't know how many people I have known in my life who feel that it is necessary to "worry" about situations and people. They feel that if they are not worrying about their children, friends, whatever, that it means they don't care! What utter rubbish! I read once that "worry is a misuse of your God-given imagination." Now that is right on the nail! I have learned from personal experience that worrying about a situation will do absolutely nothing about it! Worrying robs you of precious time and energy that could be better spent in prayer, action and trusting God. In fact, worrying about something is the same as telling God that you do not think that He is capable of handling the situation! Let me give you a personal example of how worrying was the most ridiculous thing I could do.
We had been renting a home for about eighteen years. The children had grown up there, the schools were in walking distance, church was a five minute drive and all our friends were only a few short kilometers away. The house was not the best and the neighbourhood had deteriorated due to an influx of businesses into what had been an exclusively residential area, but it was home and we were happy. Our landlords then gave the administration of their properties over to their son, and within a few short months we had been given two months notice to evacuate as he wished to use the property for business purposes. This happened in mid-November and we had until mid- January to find a new home! Have you ever tried looking for property over the Christmas / New Year period? Things are just not happening at that time!!
I must confess that all my faith flew out the window and I was absolutely furious with God for doing this to me! How could He allow this to happen? There was nothing I could do but face the inevitable and so my husband and I began the frantic search for a new home. To cut a long story short, I didn't want to leave the main area we were in as I wanted to remain close to church and friends but the houses in the area were beyond our limited budget. Eventually, and all at the eleventh hour, God, to whom I had by then given over the entire messy situation, provided us with a home about 20 kilometres from our old area. So how did my situation change? I have a lovely little home (that belongs to us) with an enormous garden; five dogs; incredible variety of bird life; no traffic noise; less humidity, etc., etc. I still attend the same church and see my friends just as often now as I did then. The one difference is that I now have the space to entertain which I did not have before.
God took a situation that filled me with fear and despair and turned it into a wonderful blessing! I truly worried about nothing and should have trusted Him right from the start. I am currently facing another similar situation. Again, there is nothing that I personally can do to alter the events (all of which are just hearsay at the moment), but I can trust God. His purpose for our lives is not to rob us and steal our joy, but to give us what is best or us. We can come before Him with our concerns and fears but we do not need to worry because He is taking care of us!
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