When We Worry about Worrying

Tonight when I put Emerald in bed, she said, in a convincing tone, Mama, there’s nothing to worry about, is there?

This is how her bedtime questions about animals and monsters in her room have evolved.  Now instead of asking about the specifics, she just puts on a slightly false confidence and tries to remind herself that there’s no reason to be nervous.  That her room should be a worry-free zone.  Yet, each night she seems just a little bit concerned about being left in there all alone.  I feel like she’s really saying, I am worried about so many things right now, but you’ve told me I shouldn’t be worried, so I’ll try to act like I’m okay.

I totally get it, don’t you?  As Christians, we know that the Bible clearly tells us not to worry.  But, we look around at this scary world.  We look down at our precious children.  We look across the table at a struggling spouse.  We drive across town to care for aging parents.  It seems like there are so many things to fret over.  It’s so hard to tell ourselves, There are TONS of things to worry about, but I shouldn’t worry about those things because I’m a Christian.

Then we feel guilty when we do worry, even though we tried not to.

I just want to say this to all of us right now:  Whoa.  Breathe.

I don’t believe that worry is always about not trusting God enough.  I believe we can completely trust God to handle a situation or to just generally guide our lives, while still hoping that there are certain things we won’t have to endure. Jesus prayed in the garden before His crucifixion.  He wasn’t trying to usurp God’s control of the situation, but He was definitely not looking forward to enduring what He would soon face.

So, don’t worry about worrying.  Believe God’s promises, trust in His goodness, pray against what you fear, and know that if the worst of your fears comes true, God will somehow, someway bring you through it.  Cling to the One who already knows how your story turns out.

He is trustworthy.