Praying, Not Worrying (The Graudation Edition)

The original version of this post was inspired by this post on Carla’s blog (MizFitOnline) about worrying. This re-post is once again inspired by a post on Carla’s blog and other life events conspiring to remind me that my worrying is not helping anything.

I have had periods in my life when anxiety had a tight grip on me, and I took comfort in Matthew 6:26:

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

But I had a hard time focusing on these words as they were read during my son’s Baccalaureate service (a chapel program for the graduating seniors) this week. My son wasn’t there because he had been in the middle of a chain reaction fender bender on the way to school. Out of six cars, he was car number 4. Car numbers 5 and 6 were fellow seniors, also on their way to school. No one was hurt (See!) but I was still worried for him and the others, because being involved in an accident is stressful, especially when the police are involved, and especially when it causes you to miss a special event.

Another part of the reading (Matthew 6:27) caught my attention over something else I have no control over:

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[?

Since my son’s surgery was postponed because the surgeon thought the gash in his leg (from a bicycling adventure gone awry) posed too much risk of infection, I have been worrying over whether it will be sufficiently healed in time for his new surgery date (this Friday). As if my worry can make his skin cells grow any faster! (But I welcome your prayers–it’s still not scabbed over!)

What I needed to hear–and heard in Carla’s post even if she didn’t say it–is that I should stop worrying and start praying. I need to remember that the reason that I don’t  need to worry is because God loves us and is taking care of us.

I need to make this passage of Psalm 33 from the New Jerusalem Bible my mantra:

Let your constant love attend us, oh Lord,
   as we put our trust in you.

As I live through the last few days of post-graduation celebrations and the final days leading up to my son’s rescheduled surgery, I need to live this passage from Philippians 4:4-7:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Amen.