Habit Forming

~~~ 2 Chronicles 24:17-15 ~~~ Psalm 89 ~~~ Matthew 6:24-34 ~~~

...Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.

Sufficient for a day is its own evil.

It is easy to read these words and easy to type them in this post, 

but the reality is often something different.

Worry is not something you choose to do.

I think worry is more often a habit that you find yourself trapped inside.

I have written here in this blog about worry before.

It is a common theme in each of our lives.

Even when we try not to engage consciously

 in the loop of worry, it happens.

All of a sudden you realize 

that you have been operating under the influence of worry.

It is like a disease; it begins with large things 

which happen only occasionally in your life

 and before you know it you find yourself 

worrying about every little thing.

You find yourself worrying about things that do not even matter.

Worry becomes the pattern...the norm for your life...

until one day you decide to end it.

One day you finally 'get it'.

God is the reason you have been worrying.

God is the reason because you have not been able

 to trust in his care for you.

You cannot believe that he cares for you

 more than you even care for yourself.

Worry has never delayed the arrival of tomorrow.

But worry has made today miserable.

Worry has ruined the present.

Too many times we worry about things that are not even real.

We worry about what might happen

 sometime in the future.

We spend time creating the entire scenario

 to fool ourselves into believing our worry is justified.

And too many times it is successful.

How can I write about this?

I have done this to myself...I have let worry rob my peace.

I am trying to trust more often than not.

I am trying to let God be in charge of tomorrow.

I am trying to think of what is good about now.

If we can focus more energy 

on the present we will have less time 

and energy to use on worry.

Worry always brings negative emotions to the forefront.

Worry is never about the good things that happen.

We never say to ourselves...'What if I never get cancer?' 

Break the Habit.

Get out of the cycle.

One way to stop the worry habit is to set aside a specific time

 when you allow yourself to worry, maybe only thirty minutes each day.

If the urge to worry comes up during the day tell yourself

 you will worry about that at __ time.

Replace your worry with a positive thought or experience.

Worry today will not solve a problem that

 'might' happen tomorrow.

Put God in the middle of your worry 

and see if things don't get better.

Hand over your worries to God. He can sort them out.

He can turn all things into good, leaving 

nothing left to worry about.

Trust in God and put your worries to rest.

He will give you the blessing you need at the moment.

~~~Peace~~~

Tenderness and Trust

~~~ Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~~~

Isaiah 49:14-15~~Psalm 62~~1 Corinthians 4:1-5~~Matthew 6:24-34

We are now standing at the threshold of Lent.
Ash Wednesday is on the horizon.
God wants us to know with confidence that we may always find safety in him.
He will never forget us even though we have greatly sinned against him.
Not only is he assuring us of his love he compares it with
the tenderness a mother has for her child.

Tenderness is fragile like the petal of a rose.
Consider the beauty of a single rose petal; how easily it can be bruised.
Consider how delicate and fragrant are the petals of a rose.

Only in God is my soul at rest; from him comes my salvation.

The love God has for us defies the constraints of time.
He is the fulfillment of permanence.

 ...he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness
and will manifest the motives of our hearts,
and then everyone will receive praise from God.

Whatever may be confusing to us now...
whatever is causing us to doubt...
Jesus will take care of everything, if we let him.

Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
Sufficient for a day is its own evil.

Worry robs you of the joy and beauty of the present day.
Worry is different from planning.
It is right to plan for the future, but it is mostly
a waste of time to worry about the future.

Worry is basically leaving God out of the picture.
Worry is not believing that God will never let you go.
It takes more energy to worry than to surrender the future to God.

All of our worries stem from the same root cause;
our lack of trust in Divine Providence.

Blessed to rest in God Alone.

He is my rock and my salvation.
Peace.

Worry Versus Trust

~~~ 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 ~~~ Psalm 34 ~~~ Matthew 6:24-34 ~~~

 

...do not worry about your life...
 

...Are not you more important...

 

....will he not much more provide for you...

 

...So do not worry...

 

...Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself...

 

No matter how many times in the same passage
we hear about having faith and trust,

we still worry.

 

Worry robs you of the present moment in time.

When we worry we are in effect saying we do not believe

God will take care of us or our loved ones.

 

We do see how all of nature is provided for by God,

but we see our state as different.

We pretend to take all the credit for our well being.

The truth is we only work in concert with God.

Ask God to remove the plague of worry from your life.

Instead entrust your would be worries to God.

He is always there listening. 

 

 

I recently received this in an email.

It has a beautiful message about embracing the present...

living in the present.

 

I AM

 

I was regretting the past

and fearing the future

Suddenly my Lord was speaking:

My name is I AM.

When you live in the past,

with its mistakes and regrets,

it is hard. I am not there.

My name is not I Was.

When you live in the future,
with its problems and fears,

it is hard. I am not there.
My name is not I Will Be.
When you live in this moment,
it is not hard. I am here.
My name is I AM.

(Helen Mallicoat)

 

Does your worrying remove any of your fears?

I admit I am guilty at times of worrying about things that never come to pass.

Being prepared for the unforeseen event is not the same

as worrying about what could happen.

The time we spend worrying will never make a difference in the future.
The real blessings lie in trusting in the present.

Worry About Tomorrow

~~~ 2Chronicles 24: 17-25 ~~~ Psalm 89 ~~~ Matthew 6: 24-34 ~~~

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink,
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

It never ceases to amaze me at how the daily scriptures can fit so perfectly with what is happening in my life. Does the Holy Spirit really care enough about me to plant a message inside these universal verses?

Well this is exactly how I feel today. My life is so filled with worry

about the future that it is churning up my very gut.

Worry impairs your thought prosesses. Worry distracts you. Worry diverts your attention. Worry is like a program running in the background of your computer. You may not even realize that it is running except that your other programs are slower.

That is how I feel...'my other programs' are slower. Perhaps that would explain why just this week I had my first ever automobile accident that was my fault. I did not think I was distracted but, I have been driving for a long time.

Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?

Of course intellectually I know that worry serves no purpose. Worry cannot improve your quality of life; of that I am certain. So why do I worry? I tell myself God has a plan here and this plan is for good...somehow. I just really do not see it and maybe I do not even want to see it.

I keep this mantra from Julian of Norwich in my heart...'All will be well'.

But I am not sure I really believe it. It might just be more of the bable in my heart.

I am not anxious about clothes or food. I am anxious about...well relationship things and living arrangements. I lives are filled with many different chapters. As we get older the book of our lives is pretty thick with pages of past experiences.

Right now I know another chapter is about to be added, but the title keeps changing.

Most of the possible titles I am not happy with, by the way. 

I know God will provide but I feel as if I am walking in the dark.

"...will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?"

Ouch! That stings a bit. Maybe the truth is I am a woman of little faith.

Maybe my faith is not what it should be. Maybe God is trying to teach me

once again to let him lead my life.

Well it would be a lot easier if he were here in the flesh, but he is not.

How ironic that next week I will be on a retreat with the theme...

"Daughter, your faith has saved you." Mark 5:34

Lord, help my unbelief as I walk in this valley of darkness. Help me to accept whatever you are leading us into. Give me the strength to keep walking forward on this unknown path...which I would not have chosen.

"...Do not worry about tomorrow;

tomorrow will take care of itself..."

The closing verse of today's gospel.

Are you sure these verses are not written just for you?