O Lord of Light, Your desire is to shine the brightness of Your countenance into my life so I can see clearly Your mission for me. To build my confidence, You admonish me to not worry or be anxious because by worrying my problems do not disappear nor does worry add a single minute to my life. Therefore, I must learn to trust You and believe that You want to protect me and help me in my times of need. You’ve promised that You will restore all that’s been taken from me … reaffirmed that You will restore me when I stumble or go astray … and, that You will provide me with the will and strength to overcome my obstacles … after I have suffered a little. Unfortunately, I cannot escape what You could not escape … suffering in order to gain the prize set before me. My consolation is that You will never allow me to suffer more than I can stand … so why should I be apprehensive and afraid.
Worry and anxiety do harm to my life because they … damage my outlook and health … cause confusion, not resolutions in my thought processes … paralyze me and disrupt my life … create negativity which adversely affects my relationship with You and others … and, reduce my ability to trust You. When worry consumes my thoughts, I am rendered helpless in avoiding or escaping the problem I am facing. Worry and anxiety should be replaced with concern because they immobilize my life, but concern moves me to action. The bottom line on worry and anxiety boils down to trust. If I genuinely trust You, there will be no place for them to creep into my life. When I allow myself to drift away from You, I make myself a target for these forces of evil. Faith, hope and love banish fear and worry from my life. Therefore, I should do everything in my power to cause these three to flourish.
You’ve told me that the way to shed worry and anxiety is to cast my cares on You because You care for me. Carrying worry, stress and daily struggles by myself show You that my trust in You is lacking. It takes insight and understanding to realize that I am important to You and You care about what happens to me. I would not be here if You did not have special feelings for me and a mission for my life. To accept the fact I need the help of a power greater than myself is the first step in letting go and letting God. Sometimes I get caught up in my struggles and begin to believe that, because of my failures, they are not Your concern. But, what I must not forget is that when I repent, You forgive me and are willing to assume my burdens. I must not succumb to my circumstances and, instead, release them to You. Help me flee worry and anxiety by giving my problems to You. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
I Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxieties on Him because he cares for you.