In my post entitled Random Things, I wrote about my children growing up and how that has provoked a strange feeling inside of me…
The longing for another baby.
No, I’m not making an announcement here. But a baby did show up at my house!
My daughter is taking a class called “Teen Living” at school. Part of the curriculum is to bring home a life-like doll and take care of it. You must take the “baby” everywhere you go. When it cries, you must comfort it. When it’s hungry, you must feed it—then burp it—then change it—then rock it to sleep. Most importantly, you must never forget to hold up its head! It even awakes in the middle of the night for a clean diaper and feeding.
Seesh! I had forgotten how much time and energy a baby can command!
If you fail to care for the baby, mistreat the baby, rock it too hard, let his head drop or allow it to cry for too long major points are deducted.
Overwhelmed by the daunting task, Peyton’s anxiety kicked in. “I know I’m going to fail at this! It’s too hard!” she exclaimed as she got into the car after school. Right away I knew something went wrong.
“What happened?” I asked.
“In the middle of my English test it started crying. After several embarrassing moments, I finally realized it was hungry. You should have seen me mom.” She continued. “I had to feed this baby while taking a test!”
Her anxieties are much like ours as a parent. Some of you right now are simply longing for 5 minutes alone in the bathroom. Or, you’d like to go to the grocery store just one time without something embarrassing happening.
Most women I know are born worriers and born fixers. We worry about everything from runny noses to runny faucets. Then we worry about how we are going to fix them. Should we call the doctor or a plumber first? Some women are gripped by worry and fear as they are face everyday crises of life. Then they spend countless hours desperately trying to find the answers so that they can fix their problems themselves. All this worrying can drain a woman causing her to feel helpless, defeated and afraid. So how can a woman overcome her worries? —With prayer.
We often think of prayer as the last resort. However, God wants to be the first person that we come to when we have a problem. Who better is able to handle our situation than God? When we turn to the Lord, He promises to take away our worry and replace it with peace.
The first step to overcoming worry is to start praying. No need is too small or unimportant to God. He cares about every detail of our lives. He wants us to tell Him everything. Day or night, you always have His attention, compassion and help. Place your needs in His hand and leave them there. He is able to handle what you can’t.
The next step is to pray with thankfulness. God always hears our prayers. So instead of praying with doubt, pray with confidence that God hears you and has already begun to work in your behalf. When we believe this, we can thank God for answering our prayer before we see the result.
The last step is to rest in His peace. In difficult times, if you pray and give God your needs and trust Him to work on your behalf, then He promises to guard your heart and mind with a peace that the too wonderful to understand.
So the next time you begin to worry, run to God in prayer, and tell Him all your fears.
Angie says
For so long I did try to fix my problems, myself. You know where it got me…no where! I tried fixing and changing things on the outside but my inside was the same. Defeat and unhappiness were overwhelming me.I prayed asking God to help me because I didn’t know what to do or how to fix myself.
So starting on the inside is where I am at now. God is speaking to me and working on me like never before. I am a work in progress but prayer is guiding me along the way.
SheriYates says
For me, getting over worry was a supernatural move of God in my life. He did it in ONE day. My husband noticed! One day – worrier, next day – not. Amazing. God is good! love,sheri
lisasmith says
What a beautiful post…One I needed to read today!!
When I get overwhelmed and frustrated, God gently takes my chin in His hands and turns my eyes to His face. In His presence worry fades. My key desire is to stay there!!