Monday, March 3, 2014

Springboarding Your Worries

A couple weeks ago my mom sent me a text with a great reminder about trusting the Lord and not worrying. It said something along the lines of "pray as much as you worry." What she meant by that is to turn your worries into prayer. I like to think of this as a springboard. When you're worried that your patient won't make it or you won't make it through nursing school or through the midterms or whatever you're worried about, redirect your attention off of yourself and your own inadequacies and focus on the Lord and His all-sufficiency.

This is illustrated by a passage I was reading last night in Psalms. The passage describes what Anne Shirley would call "the depths of despair". The psalmist was in a dark time when everyone seemed to be against him—even the Lord (Psalm 88:7). Even so, he remembered the "steadfast love" and "faithfulness" of the Lord and cried out for His mercy (Ps. 88:11). While the troubles of life were surrounding Him, he recollected the "wonders" of the Lord (Ps. 88:12). He cried to the Lord daily and spread out his hands to the Lord (Ps. 88:9) even though the Lord's wrath laid heavy upon him (Ps. 88:7).

When I read this passage, I was so impressed by the psalmist trust in the goodness of the Lord despite his depressed circumstances that I was challenged to examine my own heart and the way I respond when I am faced by trials. This man was desperate for the Lord and expectantly asked the Lord for renewed favor. How much more should we trust our Lord in every circumstance? Like the psalmist, we should see trials, troubles, and even potential troubles that we worry could happen as opportunities to come before the Lord in prayer.

Here are some scriptures to remind us of the God we serve and the power of prayer:
"Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken" (Ps. 55:22).

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor. 12:9-10).

"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16).
 
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!" (Ps. 37:4-7).