I Surrender... Here God, You Take it!

Anxiety and worry. It sure can be addicting. Yup, it starts out with something minor and before you know it, you're spending a whole lot of time worrying. My all time favorite author, Joyce Meyer equates worrying to rocking in a chair. You can spend hours doing it and not get anywhere at all. What a concept, huh?

What causes it? Why is it such a hard habit to break? People who are total control freaks can probably answer these questions better than most. I was once the biggest control freak that ever lived. I wanted to have total control over every aspect of my life. And when things didn't go my way, I would spend a ton of time worrying and wondering what went wrong. I needed that feeling of control so I could feel good about myself. I needed to feel like nobody could do it better than me.

Well, I can tell you from experience, it is definitely no way to live. When I look back to those days I realize how far I've come in my faith journey. Today I see more clearly than ever that the exact opposite of worry is faith. Now, I'm not talking about the kind of faith where you go to church on Sunday, act like a saint, and then act like a devil the rest of the week. No, that kind of faith isn't going to stop the worry train from running you over. Rather, I'm talking about the kind of faith that stands right in the middle of the biggest spiritual fight of your life, looks it in the eye, and hands it over to God. Oh, for control freaks that's tough! I know, I'm right there with you.

But it is in surrendering that fight that you find victory. Now, there are those who willingly surrender the fight. You pray, you believe, and then comes the waiting... Waiting for God to act on your behalf. And if it takes too long, it becomes way too easy to take back the fight, worry until you're sick about it, and then try to make things happen on your own, which always makes things worse.

Tremendous growth happens when you surrender the fight and then stand in the circle with God, not moving, not flinching, and believing He's working no matter how things look. The only way to get to the other side is to go through the tough stuff. Would you rather go through the fight by yourself or would you rather have God as your companion? I've done it both ways and going through with God produces amazing results.

Stop the Train and Let Me Off!

Here's some tips on how to go through the tough stuff without worrying:

1. REFUSE to let negative, defeating thoughts come into your head about the situation. You will be attacked in your mind during this struggle. Whatever you do, don't succumb to those thoughts. They are definitely not from God.

2. Whenever one of those thoughts hits you, repeat scripture over and over. Here are some that have really helped me recently. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". And "God is able to do abundantly more than I could ever dare to hope, dream, or think." And of course, this one... "God is in control. Nothing is too hard for Him. He has a great plan for me and I know it's all going to work out right."

3. Move on with the rest of your life. Refuse to let the situation stop you from doing what God's called you to do. When you move on with your life, you show God that you trust Him and you know He's working. It's not always easy, but it's so necessary.

And just remember, the time you spend worrying is time you'll never get back. Worry will never help the situation. Why not replace worry with faith.... What have you got to lose?

For more on overcoming worrying, click here.

Photo credit: Scott Liddell, Morguefile.com