Week 2 – Hire God as your professional worrier

Once I read a book written by a guy who hired a professional worrier. I don’t know if I really believe these people actually exist, but according to the author, there are literally people that you can pay to unload your burdens and problems onto –  and, unlike a therapist who merely listens,  they promise to actually do the worrying for you. Now of course, they know nothing about you and have no power to do anything about the things you are worrying about, but they promise to spend time sitting around worrying so that you don’t have to.

 

As odd of an idea as this is – I have to say that this sounds kinda nice. Think about it, a big part of worry and anxiety is that feeling that you’re completely alone – that you’re carrying this heavy, overwhelming burden on your shoulders (and your shoulders alone). I think that’s why, when you finally tell someone your worries, you almost instantly feel a little lighter. At least I know I do.

 

Well, God is like that professional worrier, except that He is not a stranger, and he does have the power to fix your problems because He’s in complete control. Obviously, God will do a whole lot better than worrying for you – He will take your entire burden and handle it. He will carry it like a caddy carries golf clubs. 

 

Our verse says

Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

We have an open invitation to bring all our fears, anxieties, frustrations and worries to God. To drop them at His feet and say “Here you take this”. 

And then?  God says “Cool, I got this”.That’s the God we serve. 

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

And it doesn’t stop there. He not only wants us to hand over our burdens, He also wants us to leave them there. Forever. 

 

But this is where it can get tricky (for us). Because leaving our problems with Him means having faith that, whatever the outcome may be, God’s way is the best way. It requires that we trust the promise that His solution is the best solution.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

Romans 8:28 All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 

All of our attempts at micromanaging our worries is actually a lack of faith because it says that we don’t really trust God to handle them. Leaving the worrying to God means surrendering our own version of the story to Him, knowing that he always has our best interest in mind. 

 

Imagine that you hired a world-renowned artist to paint a masterpiece for you. Would you stand behind her as she painted and say “Oh, no, not green!…  Oh hey, why don’t you try that other brush instead?” Or, would you trust the artist to do what you hired her for and believe that the end product will most definitely exceed your wildest imagination? 

 

Well, God is that artist. He thought up every atom, He calculated the finely timed orbit of the planets and He is the originator of time itself. Best of all – He considers us his precious children – so don’t you think he’s more than capable of taking our worries and making beauty or even miracles out of them?

 

When we fully surrender and trust in the Almighty God, then comes best part. Our verse says…

The peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  

Isn’t that beautiful?  Just think – when we leave our anxiety at Jesus’ feet, we can and will experience peace that doesn’t even make sense to our earthly minds. God will take our fear and leave something beautiful in its place – and that’s a promise.