Countdown to 31 begins

 In less than 30 days I’ll be 31.  I’ve never had a care about my age until recently.  For whatever reason, I think more and more about it and those thoughts are becoming worry?  Why?  No clue!  On one had I feel like it’s a naturaly feeling that comes with age {especially for women} but on the other hand I ask myself is there more to it? 

Timing couldn’t have been better when I read my daily Girlfriends in God Devotional because it was all up and down my street.  It dealt with worry.  Here are some excerpts below and you can find the full article here…

The Comanche Indians tortured and killed their enemies by staking them to the ground. They then took a wet leather strap and placed it around the neck of their enemy. As the leather strap slowly dried in the blazing desert sun, it would gradually cut off the air supply until their enemy finally choked to death. Worry does the same thing. “Worry” literally means “to be pulled in different directions.” The old English root from which we get our word “worry” means “to strangle.” Worry literally strangles our peace and weakens our faith.

Worry is the interest that we pay today on tomorrow’s problems.

I saw a bumper sticker that read “Worry is the darkroom in which negatives are developed.”  How true! I can only imagine what it does to the heart of God to see His children caught in the trap of negative attitudes when His plan is a peaceful mind-set. We will never live in freedom and power until we consistently choose against worry and deliberately choose to trust God alone.

The story is told of a small town in west Texas that was experiencing a severe drought. One Sunday morning, a pastor in that town announced there would be a prayer meeting that night and encouraged every member to meet at the church to pray for rain. The pastor challenged them to come in faith, believing that God would hear and answer their prayer. That night, the church was filled with every leader of the church and community. The preacher stood, looked out over the crowd and said “Only one of you has come in faith.” He then pointed to a little girl seated in the front row. She was holding an umbrella. Faith eliminates worry and feeds peace.

I don’t know about you but I felt much better after reading this.  It reminded me of a song by Bobby McFerrin…