Have you ever found yourself in a moment and the thought that crosses your mind is… I just want to be able to fix everything.
Shew. My month in Honduras was full of these moments.
I take a moment like the family of 11 children, one mom, no father, and with very little resources. I see a one year old with a diaper days old, or no diaper at all. I see a six year old caring for and carrying younger siblings to and from the church everyday. I see malnutrition’s effect of cognitive development. I see filth and dirt and untreated illnesses.
Everything I see in these moments turn to worry. That worry stemming from how deeply I care about things. I’m realizing this depth of caring has its disadvantages- I dwell a lot on my thoughts and feelings about things, I allow thoughts and feelings to consume me, and I get lost in the worry and concern about what I’m caring about.
Worry is feeling troubled by an actual or potential problem. It’s focusing on a problem rather than seeking the answer or solution. For me, worrying either introduces the lie that God doesn’t care or that he lacks power. And I caught myself doing this a lot last month. I chose tunnel vision of the problem instead of the answer through the lens of faith. I lost sight of the simple gospel- the Hope of Jesus.
I consider all the worry…
What space in my heart does worrying occupy?
What space in my mind is consumed by my own thoughts, rather than His?
Does the power and love of the Spirit have room to move in the space that is left?
You see, it is impossible to simultaneously entertain a worry and to trust God. Worry is a lack of trust, and trust in God is believing in the hope Jesus has given me; therefore, the only way to fall into complete trust is to let go of worry, let go of my heart and my head and allow the spirit to consume me.
“Do not worry about your life…
Who of you by worrying can add
a single hour to his life?”
Matthew 6:25-27
What will life look like when I replace the time spent worrying, with the time spent trusting the impact of His love? Surrendering that control has been super tough. I’ve challenged myself to throw off the worry, pressing solely into caring with the hope of Jesus and the compassion the Father has entrusted me with. It has been trust in a whole new light. A new perspective of the power of the gospel.
We must not lean on our own understanding, but remember that our lives are in the hands of the Maker of Heaven!
XOXO
Tay
“I pray that out of his glorious riches,
you may be strengthened by the power
through the spirit in your inner being.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
with the power, together with all God’s Holy people,
may grasp how wide and long
and high and deep is the love of Christ…”
Ephesians 3:16-18
