I've probably written this on here a countless number of times, but I'll say it again, I am a worrier. I stress myself out, and I get knots in my stomach over the smallest of things. I've been a worry wart ever since I was a little kid, and I still remember times when my mom would tell me "Just give it all to God."
I worry over things that I can't control, and things that I can't change. And I'll tell you, this time of year, I worry the most about the logistics for the mission trips that I've been attending with my youth group each year. I worry about how the group dynamics will affect the trip, I worry about the drama that we'll carry there, start there, and bring back, I worry about who will be in my car and in my work group. And it gets to a point where I'm just worrying in circles, but you know what? I can't do anything about it. Especially before the trip actually begins.
Last year was no different from any other year, and I had completely stressed myself out by the time we got to the trip. As things played out on the very first day in Boston, I felt the knot in my stomach tighten and loosen multiple times. And then, on Monday morning during devotions, I felt this overwhelming sense of peace come over me as I spoke to God.
"Lord, I have absolutely no idea what You're doing right now, and frankly, it scares me. I don't like not knowing. But what I do know is that You are all-knowing, and You have a plan for all of this. So I'm just going to have to trust You. I'm giving this worry to You. Please, help me."
If I didn't just trust God, I would have let my worry and stress overwhelm me, and take over my trip. My focus would have been on worrying, not on doing God's work.
I think that that happens a lot, that we let stress, or worry, or guilt, or sadness, or whatever emotion it is, take us over. We can't do anything but wait and see how things turn out, but still, we frantically obsess.
1 Peter 5:7 says "Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you."
God is there to take it all from us. We just need to be willing to give it to Him. We need to throw up our hands, and say "God, I can't do this without You, and I don't want to. I need you to take this from me, and I need you to guide me." God knows what He's doing, and once we get rid of our worries and give them to Him, He's going to do amazing things in our lives.
