When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.Psalm 94:18-20
If patience is the most difficult thing I struggle with, I think anxiety can run a close second. I love what this verse says - not if ... but *when* my anxious thoughts multiply, my consolation will come from God. And not only will I be consoled - my soul will delight in those consolations.
Sometimes my world seems to call out, "Look to God. Look to God. Look to God."
Someone asked me the other day why I thought God allowed difficult times in our lives. I think that is a question we all ask at one time or another. I though about it for a while and though the thought wasn't well-formed, said this:
"What a bunch of self-centered, egotistical people we would be. If we never knew adversity, we'd never learn gratitude. If we never had bad times, we'd never come to cherish the good ones. We'd have no need for God."
I know I need God when my anxieties get out of control. I have to look to Him, acknowledge that He is still in control. I have to grow my faith, bit by bit. I have to trust. I have to pull myself out of the land of "what if," and simply let go of the outcome. I'm not saying I don't do the things I need to do for whatever the situation is - but I do what I believe God is saying is my part - and let go.
Letting go means putting no expectations on that outcome. I have come to know things won't always turn out the way I want them to, or the way I expect - but I do know nothing takes God by surprise. I know He can take any and every situation and bring good from it. His plan is larger than mine.
When I can relax in that, I can let go of the anxieties that plague me. I can find God. And I can delight in the fact that He is the one who will console me - no matter what comes across my path.
Father God, Thank you that you have everything covered. There is nothing about our situation that takes You by surprise. Thank you that you have created our world so that we realize our need for You, and You will be by our side in each and every situation. Amen and amen.
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