Fear Not

"Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine." Isaiah 43:1

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ Matthew 6:25-31

Both of these scripture passages have been on my heart this afternoon. I'm reading through a book by John MacArthur entitled Anxious for Nothing. He cites this scripture in Matthew and comments, "Stop worrying"..."Don't start worrying." and "If you are worrying, quit; if you haven't started, don't." I guess you can't get any more blatant than that! :) MacArthur points out that worry is a sin. Ouch!

I admit, I gave in to worry this week over a potential situation - one that had me on edge with the possible ramifications. I couldn't move past it and was stuck in the mire of fear, worry and anxiousness. When I finally got my nerve up to broach the topic with my husband, he pretty much bluntly pointed out the need to stop worrying, and how it was wrong to worry, and that I needed to move on beyond the circumstances. Now, I already knew this, but hearing it, somehow broke through the fog surrounding my heart, and I was finally able to release the situation to God - completely, without trying to take a hold of it again.

Whew! I rested for two full days in God's peace and knowing He would take care of the situation. Then today, I heard back an answer in regard to the struggle, and guess what? None of the things I imagined came to fruition. I worried, stewed, and fretted over nothing. Even though it's been a long, painful, and stressful week (brought on by my own worry), it's been an incredible learning experience on my road to discovering God's peace. I spent far too much time worrying over something I had no control over, and wasting time that could have been used somewhere else. Perhaps this is what Satan often tries to do - get us so overwrought that we lose sight of following and serving God each day. My vision became focused on me instead of my Heavenly Father.  I trust next time I will remember this lesson learned, and not fall into the same crazy cycle of worry. May I remember to 'Fear not!'