How to Erase Worry from Your Life

Remember way back in SAT prep? When they told us that sometimes all of the multiple choice options would be correct? {Oh those questions are a joy, aren’t they? ;) } In order to get the question correct, we needed to sort through the good options and pick the best answer.

The very best option in a sea of mediocre.

Those questions always stressed me out. What if I picked the wrong one? What if the one I think best isn’t what the scantron reader thinks is best!?!

Sometimes life seems the same way.

Often, tough questions have more than one answer: Which college should I go to? What should I major in? Who should I marry?
And even not so complicated questions: Where should we go out to eat? What should I wear today?

We face countless choices every day. Sometimes these options can be easy to sort through: this one is good, that one is bad. Easy-peasy. However, every so often one of the curveballs gets thrown into the mix: this one is good, that one is good, which one is best?

Like choosing a flavor of ice cream, the options lay before us and each way to go seems like a pretty good one. It becomes tricky to chose the best path.

In fact, it can seem downright impossible.

*Enter Worry, stage right*

Thankfully, we have a Friend who is willing to give us the best answer. All we have to do is listen to Him… easier said than done sometimes, right?

In the book Peculiar Treasures by Robin Jones Gunn, Katie struggles with several big decisions. Namely, choosing a major and deciding whether or not to become a resident assistant at her dorm.

Katie goes to talk to the resident director, Julia, about the decision and admits that she wants to take the position but isn’t sure if it’s God’s will for her.

Katie asks for Julia’s advice, and then…

Without adding any further information, Julia turned and walked away. She wove a path through the other students gathered in the lobby and sat down on one of the couches across the room. Then she moved her lips, but Katie couldn’t hear her.
Katie stood by the door with a ‘huh?’ look on her face. Obviously, if she wanted to hear Julia’s answer, she better follow her path across the lobby.
Katie plopped on the couch with an expectant expression. “So?”
“So, that’s it,” Julia said…“That’s my visual demonstration of what I think it’s like to figure out God’s will… Craig calls it my ‘hot on his heels’ theology,” Julia said. “That’s what I think it’s like to follow God. If you want to know what he has to say, you just follow him. You stay close. You ask and keep asking, and you listen. He’ll make it clear. The closer you are to him, the easier it is to hear what he’s saying.”

–Peculiar Treasures, pg 54-55

I love that.

The first time I read this book I think I was a freshman in high school and I’ve never forgotten Julia’s ‘hot on his heels’ theology. And the more I think about it, the more I find it to be true.

If we want to know God’s will, we have to know God.

We have to follow Him and be “hot on His heels.”

Jeremiah 29:11 is a pretty well-known verse. “For I know the plans I have for you… Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans for a hope and a future.”

The verses immediately following it gives us the key to knowing God’s plans for our lives: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you…” (Jer. 29:13-14a).

When we seek God with all of our hearts, we will find Him. It’s a promise.

This promise is echoed in Deuteronomy 4:29. “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

If we want to know God’s will, we have to know God.

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It’s actually a pretty simple concept. With our earthly best friends, we know them very well. We know their personality and their likes and dislikes. We know their goals for the future and hopes and dreams.

It’s the same with God. We need to know Him very well and know His personality and His hopes and dreams. Then we can know His goal for our lives.

And in this seeking for God- in the praying and the reading of His word- we become released from all worry.

In the seeking for God we become released from our worry.

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We can’t trust God and worry at the same time.

“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” -Matthew 6:31-33

“Trust in the LORD with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” -Proverbs 3:5-6

So when it comes down to choosing the best option between a multitude of good things, or even just making the good choice instead of the bad, all we have to do is seek God and trust Him.

He will show us which path to take. He’ll even guide us down it like a trailblazer in the jungle. We just have to stay hot on His heels and trust Him to show us the way.

If this post encouraged you, could you please take a second and share it with a friend so it can encourage her as well? :) 

Posted by Kara Beth & filed under Faith Tips. This post has 8 comments.