Thanksgiving

I have so much to be thankful for. I have been reminded this week that I need to trust God with my future ... with all the things that worry me. The Greek word translated "worry" in Matthew 6 and "anxious" in Philippians 4 is actually a combination of two words, "divided" and "mind." The Old English word from which we get the word "worry" meant "strangle" or "choke." I know what it feels like to have a divided mind ... to have a divided heart. It feels a lot like being choked or strangled. It feels like you can't breathe deeply enough.

I have found that taking a deep breath can, for at least a moment, provide some relief. And it especially helps when I remember that God gives me each and every breath. Doing so reminds me that God not only has my future, not only my present, but also my past in his hands.

Corrie Ten Boom wrote that, "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength." When I worry my mind and my heart are divided. When I worry I declare that I am unwilling to trust God fully. When I worry I imagine that I am more capable than God. Worrying gets me nowhere and accomplishes nothing.

Instead of worrying ... instead of being anxious ... I need to pray and to focus my mind on kingdom things ... on righteous things ... I need to believe that God is in control of my present, future, and even my past. I need to pray and bring my petitions before God ... all those worries, all those cares, I need to lay before his throne ... and I need to do so with Thanksgiving, acknowledging God's goodness and love and capacity to handle anything that worries me.

Only then will I experience Shalom. Only then will my divided mind, only then will my divided heart, be bound up and made whole.

Easy to write. Easy to preach. So hard to live.

Heavenly Father,

I thank you for my past, present, and future for they are all in your hands. Help me to trust you fully with my worries. Help me to see glimpses of your kingdom all around me that my mind might be focused on your righteousness. Bind my divided mind. Bind my divided heart. Grant me, and all who worry, your Shalom. God of Shalom, be with me, be with us.

Amen.