Enjoying Motherhood预览

Worry, Worry, Worry: What Do You Worry About?

by Deb Weakly

When my children were babies, I worried about them dying in their sleep.

When they were toddlers, I worried about them getting really sick or having a serious accident.

When they were in elementary school, I worried about my complete inadequacy as a mom and felt like I did not know how to raise my children to be Christians.

When they were in high school, I worried about them turning away from God or not following Him.

Worry, worry, worry.

What does it accomplish? Nothing! It causes sleepless nights and days filled with dread. Worry steals our joy and allows Satan to gain a foothold in our thoughts. 

I struggled with worry and anxiety so badly it stole my joy. When I focused on the bad things that could happen, I hardly noticed the good things right in front of me.

Jesus tells us specifically not to worry about tomorrow. I love the story from Corrie Ten Boom about how God gives us grace, one day at a time. When someone asked her how she could have endured the persecution and suffering she went through in the German concentration camps during World War II, she said she had the unfathomable grace of God to help her.

Corrie said when she was a little girl, she would frequently travel on the trains with her dad. He understood that she did not need her train ticket for their journey until right before she stepped onto the train. He gave her the ticket just at the time she needed it.

She said that God’s grace is like that train ticket. We don’t get it until right when we need it. So, when we worry about tomorrow and all the things that could go wrong, we don’t have God’s grace to help us because we are not there yet. We stress and stress to no avail. It doesn’t help, and in fact, worry only hurts us. We can’t do anything about tomorrow anyway. So why not trust God for today and live in the moment?

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)

God has given us everything we need—His power in us, His Word, and His grace one day at a time. He knows we want our kids to follow Him and love Him all the days of their lives. God knows we have financial, marital, or health issues. He is a good, good Father and will help us through whatever we may face!