Worrying?? Me?!?

I think worry is a sin that those of us who like to have control of the situation commit more often than others do. Stress is a result of this worry, and I will leave that topic for another day.

I remember during my first years of teaching, I would have nightmares that I had lost control of a class. I would be screaming and threatening and no one would listen! Airplanes and rubber bands flying around the room, kids drawing on the marker boards and sitting on the desks talking and laughing loudly (a nightmare indeed!), ... it was terrible.

It's always so easy for me to worry about things like paying bills, rent, insurance,  car payment, etc on time. I can also be quite anxious over a visit to the dentist. (I loathe that chair and the upside down angle I am reclining at while strangers poke and prod in my mouth, and I think that I hope I never really have to be in one ever again as long as I live. Contrarily, sitting upright while having a a white-robed individual peer incessantly into my eyeballs with the painful brightest of bright white lights and even enduring the poof of air test is a walk in the park for me.) I find myself grabbing the arms of the dentist chair until my forearm muscles cramp up, and thusly God reminds me to give it to Him - and stop worrying!

He always knows when I need him the most. He always speaks to me through circumstances, people, and even the animals (the hummers at our feeder and catmint plant last night were a special treat!).

He knows what I'm enduring, what I'm facing; He knows all about the bills and the dentists and the IRS and the necessary losses. And He's not worried. Nor shall I be. :-)

As faithful members of the Body of Christ, we would do well to heed the words of St Peter

And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for

“God opposes the proud,
    but gives grace to the humble.”

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert.

~1 Peter 5:5-8a 

God, grant me the serenity 

to accept the tings I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can, 

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Blessed be God forever!