- I am thankful for me family and friends. They are loving, supportive and are glad to see me go where God has called me.
- I am thankful for God’s provision. He has brought me to almost 50% and provided people over in Germany who I will have contact with.
- I am thankful for my team and my coaches. God has picked a very special group of ladies to go to Berlin in January and I’m blessed, excited to be able to serve with them and get to know them better and see how God is shaping us in our ministry. I’m thankful for the coaches whom God has provided to be able to prepare us for the field and who talk with and support us though this whole process.
- I’m thankful for technology which helps me keep in contact with people who are far away.
- I’m thankful for food, clothing, a roof over my head and for clean water.
- I’m thankful for the people that I’ve come into contact with through this whole support raising process.
- I’m thankful for good health.
- I’m thankful for the gifts and abilities God has given me.
- I’m thankful for a good education.
- I’m thankful for waking up this morning, God has blessed me with another day of life.
There are many things for me to be thankful for, and yet my mind settles on all the things I “should” be worrying about. Worry, it’s something I’m good at. It’s easy to do, but it’s not good. The other day I realized how we justify worry. I looked back and saw that making back-up plans can be worry because we don’t pray, have faith and trust that God will handle it. There are many other ways we can justify worrying by simply putting it in another category or labeling it something else. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s destructive and that God tells us not to worry. Fear is the root of worry. Fear is the noun. Worry is the verb and the effect of fear. This Sunday’s sermon was “The Cure for Worry”. Our pastor said worry was an addiction, a joy sucker. He’s right because I’ve experienced it before. One minute I’d be happy and in a split second a thought would creep into my mind and reassure me there was no need to be happy, I needed to worry about what was not done or what had not gone well. Yes, I spent time sitting there worrying but it didn’t do anything. I didn’t make the situation go away or fix whatever it was. I sat there worrying and I wasted my time in doing so. The opposite of fear and worry is hope and joy. When you have hope and joy you overlook the bad and turn the situation into a positive. Hope and joy give momentum to go and do better, to do your best and see the good in things. So, even if it is easier to worry, it is more beneficial to have hope and joy and to turn to God when we are tempted to sit down and worry. Hope and joy make us thankful, so even in times where we can’t see through the fog thank God and be thankful for all you have.
Fear: dread or alarm in facing danger.Worry: to feel or experience concern or anxiety, mental distress or agitation resulting from concern; anxiety.Hope: confident trust with the expectation of fulfillment.Joy: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune.
- Proverbs 12:25- Worry weighs a person down.
- Matthew 6:27- Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
- 1 Peter 5:7- Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.
- Matthew 6:25- That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life.
- Philippians 4:6-7- Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
- Psalm 34:4- I prayed to the Lord and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears….
- Hebrews 13:6- So we say with confidence ‘The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear…’
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18- Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.