What Keeps Me from Worrying

A friend messaged me on facebook after reading the last post (thank you, my friend, for your encouragement!) and I shared some more of my own thoughts about not worrying.  These are the things I try to remember when I start to be anxious about something:

*It's out of my control.  Worrying is part of my control-freak-ness: I worry when I can't control something because I don't know how it's going to turn out (whether that's the future, some plans, or my health).  It IS, however, in God's control.  Which leads to the next thing:

*God is bigger than all my worries, troubles and frustrations.  He CAN and DOES handle ALL of it!!

*Moreover, God loves me more than I can possibly imagine.  He always wants what's best for me, and he knows what's best.  Not only that, but he knows everything I need.  He knows the right time to give it to me.  He knows when to not give me something I don't need, even if I think I do.

*When I look at life with an eternal perspective, little earthly trials and frustrations don't seem like such a big deal.  When I think about the problems other people face (famine, slavery, life-threatening illness, severe injury, poverty, etc), mine just don't seem that bad.  Also, when I consider that this life is so short compared to eternity, and I will spend FOREVER in a perfect body in God's presence, sicknesses and troubles and even money problems seem so small and insignificant.

*Finally, looking at all the things God has blessed me with reminds me of how much he does for me all the time, and reassures me that he will continue to provide for EVERYTHING I need.