Celebrate Recovery DevotionalSample

Casting Anxiety

Sunday nights in our house have a predictable pattern. Right around bedtime we’ll have at least one meltdown. Usually it’s our oldest daughter. She worries about school, which is strange because she’s really smart. The problem is that she doesn’t feel that way.

Every Sunday she worries that there will be something she won’t be able to understand. She stresses out about it, cries, begs to stay home. It’s sad to watch her struggle so unnecessarily. On Monday afternoons, I usually ask her about her day. Did the things she was worried about happen? Almost always her answer is no.

Many of us carry around a similar weight of anxiety, working ourselves into a ball of tears over things that will never materialize. This is not how God wants us to live. He looks down on us, his precious children, and asks us to turn all those things that are worrying us over to him. He loves us, and he’s much more capable of handling those things than we are.

My wife and I have noticed that after our daughter tells us about her worries, she feels better. Nothing has changed, of course, but she no longer feels she is carrying those burdens alone. She knows that we love her and will always be there to help her. We can have that same security by sharing our worries and fears with God. He will always be there for us. He will always help us.

Prayer

Dear Father, thank you for walking with us, helping us to carry all our burdens, real and imagined. Thank you for loving us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.