What to Do With Worry?

Life is full of worries, burdens, fears, difficult circumstances, troubles and heartache. Life is hard, messy, and unexpected.

What do we do with our worries?

I wonder if you are like me. You give your concerns to God and then promptly take them back.  

I share my concerns with God, placing them in God’s capable hands. I let go of those concerns and peace comes. However, not long after, thoughts of worry float into my mind. I seize the fears back to mull over and thusly, those thoughts affect my emotions. Furthermore, I fret. Besides fretting, I try to manage the concerns myself. Peace becomes illusive. Sometimes, my stomach knots and I feel physically anxious.

But…. we have an invitation:

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7 NLT).

God invites us to give our cares over. The idea in the word “give” is to once for all give. the invitation is to cast our worries on God. Giving concerns to God once for all means trust in One who is bigger than us.

God invites us to give or hand over those messy things in our lives. All our distractions, harassments and worldly concerns that keep us up at night, the Almighty God knows. What a comforting invitation for us to pass on to God our anxieties, fears, heartaches, burdens, troubles and problems!

Many times, I imagine setting all my worries before the throne of God; this image helps me release my concerns. I picture a huge majestic throne accessible to me. I discharge each concern, like rocks, and deposit them before the throne. The challenge I have is leaving the worries, but I remember how capable God is.

Nevertheless, not long after releasing my troubles to God, I take them back. Then I release them again for a longer time. Oops, I took them back again. Although, I repeat the pattern over and over, the internals between letting go and taking back get longer. Usually, each release is longer until eventually I can let go totally.

The reason we can cast our cares on the throne is because of God’s loving compassion and kindness for us. We are not forgotten and our distresses are not forgotten. Also, we have a God who reaches down to regard our needs.

When we hand over our burdens, peace and rest permeate us.

Giving our troubles to God does not mean life will go perfectly planned, but we will have more peace. In addition, it means that we give God permission to handle our concerns.

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you (1 Peter 5:7).

Here is our challenge: Name your worries and hand those anxieties over to Our Loving God. You may need to say them aloud or write them down in a prayer. Do whatever helps you to hand over your cares. Repeat the process if needed, like I usually need to do.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father who cares for us,

We carry many heavy loads of anxiety, fears, and emotions that distract us from joy and peace. Help us give to you all the hard burdens and lay them at your feet. Help us hand over our concerns and leave them with you. May your peace strengthen us, may your grace sustain us and may your presence bring consolation. You are bigger than all our problems. Thank you for being a God who loves and cares. Amen