Have you ever come away from a conversation and wondered to yourself, “what did he/she mean by that? Then you mull it over in your mind, and after awhile of doing that it seems larger than life…you find yourself either angry or hurt. I’m sure I am not the only person in the world who has and will do this very thing many times. It is not a very good practice, wouldn’t you agree? The question is, what do we do with our minds when we have created a “loop” of anxiety…
There are tons of verses that speak to this issue, which indicates to me that God very well knows all about our minds and its loops. I have always particularly liked Psa 34, where we are told three times, “fret not thyself…” and that is only the beginning of Scripture that addresses this issue, some of them I will put at the bottom of this blog. God knew when He graciously brought me to Himself, that I was a champion worrier. If I didn’t have something to worry about I could find something. He also knew the type of ministry He had planned for me to take part in…counseling inmates…so the worry thing had to go. When I was first born again I had plenty to worry about, a husband that was a drunk, a business he had started and was in the process of finishing with his drinking. We were almost bankrupt and he had a heart attack! It’s a long story I won’t tell here but rest assured I had plenty to worry about and no real resources. I had recently read a book entitled Late, Great, Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey, a prophecy book. It reminded me of all I had learned as a child and young adult…and walked away from in my late teens. I did a 180* turnaround, repented and was never the same. Let me tell you, when God wants to teach you something, He really pours it on. Trouble upon trouble upon trouble. Of course I worried, my usual habit. However, now I had a new habit, reading bulk amounts of Scripture and good, solid commentaries to go with it. So much of what I read spoke to the goodness, the mercy, the loving kindness of God. In so many places it said don’t fret, don’t be anxious, He cares for you, bring your burden to Him. I knew He was serious, and I knew I had a problem that would get me nowhere, and probably keep me from hearing Him, and making wise decisions about the problems I was facing. So…I got myself a small notebook and began to write down what I believed He was speaking to me from His Word, and meditating then memorizing the verses. As I did this, I noticed the concentration on memorizing “broke” the loop of worry…interesting…I realized what my mind was focused on dominated my thinking! PTL…God could control my mind and my tendency to fret. I have never stopped memorizing Scripture…not in 35 years. I still have bouts of fretting and I still get anxious especially over change as I have gotten older but now I know what to do about it. I cannot thank Him enough for this wonderful gift. One last thing…I had read George Mueller’s life story, how he trusted God completely for everything and spent his entire life taking care of orphans in 16th century England. He trusted God so completely that He never asked a living soul for anything and in decades, God never let him down or the orphans do without. I read that and said to God that if He ever entrusted me with a ministry, I wanted to trust Him like George Mueller did. A few years later, He led me to begin Wings of Eagles, a ministry to prisoners and their family members, not exactly the most popular kind of ministry. He reminded me of what I asked Him about trusting Him as George Mueller did Wow! That was awesome! But, I promised I would. That was in 1981, He has never let me down, supplied my every need, never early and never late. He is indeed a good God, I love Him very much and thank Him with all my heart for teaching me to lean on Him, to trust Him and obey Him. Next time I’ll tell you how He “cemented” in my heart the fact that money would never be a problem for me. I wouldn’t have a lot but I would always have what I needed. And…I would always have Him!
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