Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Cast ALL Your Burdens...


Sometimes, anxiety likes to wake me so that we can hang out together.  While I'm flattered and all, it's just not really my cup of tea.  Or coffee, which I can't actually taste today.  Maybe tomorrow...

It goes something like this:

A:  "WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
:::gasping for breath:::
me:  ...what?

A:  "YOU'RE GONNA FORGET TO TAKE YOUR DAUGHTER TO HER DR APPOINTMENT!"
me:  ugh, no I'm not...it's on my calendar.

A:  "YOU'RE GONNA FORGET TO PAY THE MORTGAGE!"
me:  when have I ever 'forgotten' to pay that?  No one 'forgets' their mortgage payment.  C'mon, you gotta do better than this, Anxiety.

A:  "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET ANYTHING DONE AT WORK TODAY!"
:::chest tightness begins, Anxiety seems to be hitting a nerve, gotta talk to God::: 
me:  I will get done what I'm able to get done...

A:  "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING RIGHT TODAY.  HAHA!"
:::adrenaline rush, we're so done sleeping, it's time to talk to God:::

So what do I do...half asleep, yet fully awake?  Well, I mess it up.  I respond by making trades with the Lord.  Trades, ya'll.  As if I haven't read the verse hundreds of times.  "Cast ALL..." not some.

I also think of everyone else who may be feeling anxious.  Because at 3am, there's plenty of time to think.  Students taking, or getting ready to take, their finals.  Friends going through health challenges, financial burdens, concerns for their children, job stuff, marital stuff...all sorts of stuff.  I asked God to be with each of them and make His presence known.  Comfort those kids, those friends...be in those circumstances...bring them - us - through it all.

And He will.

By the time I was done conversing with God and got tired again, it was time to be up for work.  So?  I passed the time by making a picture from one of the flowers my kids took a picture of.  This flower was so striking that maybe it will help me (and maybe someone else) remember.  All anxieties, not some.

Be well, friends!


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