Feb 27, 2026 – Worry
When I got up from writing to let Ranger in from the deck, I noticed this image on the photo frame in the other room. I pass by this frame all day long, everyday, but haven’t seen this image in months – timely.
JC – “Keep your eyes on Me! …Your gravest danger is worrying about tomorrow. If you try to carry tomorrow’s burdens today, you will stagger under the load…. You must discipline yourself to live within the boundaries of today.”
Utmost – Chambers uses the story of the woman at the well (John 4:11) to help us entrust our concerns to God, “Suppose there is a well of fathomless trouble inside your heart, and Jesus comes and says – ‘Let not your heart be troubled”; and you shrug your shoulders and say – “But, Lord, the well is deep; You cannot draw up quietness and comfort out of it.’ No, He will bring them down from above. Jesus does not bring anything up from the wells of human nature…. We impoverish His ministry the moment we forget He is Almighty; the impoverishment is in us, not in Him. We come to Jesus as Comforter or as Sympathiser, but we will not come to Him as Almighty…. We have Christian attributes and experiences, but there is no abandonment to Jesus Christ…. we struggle down to the deeps and try to get the water for ourselves… The well of your incompleteness is deep, but make the effort and look away to Him.”
Power – Psalm 4:8 – “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust.” Joyce reminds us that, “Worry is like sitting in a rocking chair, rocking back and forth; it’s always in motion and it keeps us busy, but it never gets us anywhere…. [God] cares for us; He will solve our problems and meet our needs, but we have to stop thinking and worrying about them. I realize this is easier said than done, but there is no time like the present to begin learning a new way to live without worry, anxiety, and fear.”
Streams – Genesis 32:24 – “So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.” In a way, Cowman is also addressing worry as she points out the value of time spent with God which eases worry and enhances our faith. She writes, “’Left alone!’ What different emotions these words bring to mind for each of us! To some they mean loneliness and grief, but to others they may mean rest and quiet. To be left alone without God would be too horrible for words, while being left alone with Him is a taste of heaven! And if His followers spent more time alone with Him, we would have spiritual giants again.” She goes on to point out a long list of people in the Bible who spent time alone with God receiving comfort and direction that wouldn’t have been possible without this set-aside time. She encourages us to, “Earnestly desire to get alone with God. If we neglect to do so, we not only rob ourselves of a blessing but rob others as well, since we will have no blessing to pass on to them.”
Prevail #58 – Larson’s discussion about insecurity makes me think it often goes hand-in-hand with worry. She compares the initial questions that Saul and Gideon posed about their abilities, or lack thereof, when they were called by God, “…if you watch how their lives play out, you realize that while Gideon may have felt a bit insecure, his weightier attribute was humility, whereas Saul was fueled by his chronic self-sins…. When rejection, insecurity, and inferiority remain unchallenged within us, we will repeatedly sabotage our own destiny. We’ve got to be ruthless with thoughts of insecurity…. It’s the only way we’ll live out the amazing call on our lives.”
Simpson closes our discussion pointing out, “In taking Christ in any new relationship, we must first have sufficient intellectual light to satisfy our mind that we are entitled to stand in this relationship. The shadow of a question here will wreck our confidence. Then, having seen this, we must make the venture, the committal, the choice, and take the place just as definitely as the tree is planted in the soil…. It must be once for all, without reserve, without recall. Then there is a season of establishing, settling, and testing…. same as when the surgeon sets the broken arm….So God has His spiritual splints that He wants to put on His children and keep them quiet and unmoved until they pass the first stage of faith.”
