I almost missed a very important message yesterday.
It was after our worship service and after our
fellowship meal.
The ladies were seated around a table in the 
fellowship hall and I was distracted
with preparations for Christmas Caroling.

A fellow who is a friend of one of our 
regular attenders had hopes of 
using his newly learned guitar skills
while ministering to a local 
retirement community.

So he stopped into church to run through
some of the music with me.
We were having a great time when 
one of the ladies asked if I was coming to 
the study.
Now, I had every intention of taking a pass
on it to continue with the music
but for some reason 
I changed my mind and we wrapped up 
our little music session.

Am I ever glad I did.
We ladies are studying a book by 
Linda Dillow
called
Calm My Anxious Heart.

We had arrived at a chapter that spoke to 
the root of anxiety and worry.
It came right out and called it sin.
Gasp!

So often we justify our anxious thoughts
as legitimate concerns.
We fret and stew on them until we make 
ourselves miserable or sometimes even ill.

Major themes that came out of our 
discussion yesterday
were:

Holding our thought captive.
Knowing that God is Sovereign.
That it makes no sense to try to solve it first...
before turning to Him for help.
Learning to recognize His answers to prayer
as Yes, No or Wait.

It was a power packed hour.
With my Chelsea preparing to leave for 
Australia next year I have had more 
than my share of anxious thoughts.
Many of you know that she deals with 
Anorexia.
At one point we told her that her chances of 
getting to go were about 25%
because she was struggling to maintain
her weight.

Now, 
she has released her food anxieties and 
is steadily gaining the necessary and required
weight.  This is great for her but 
for just a little while I was breathing easier 
in thinking that I wasn't going to have to say 
goodbye to her for those five months.

God put these lessons right in my path at a perfect time.
For, as Chelsea works to get physically ready for 
such a challenging endeavor,
I will have time to prepare my heart and 
get practiced in taking my thoughts captive.
Always turning to Him
for the needed 
strength and peace.


Comments (4)

On November 20, 2012 at 12:52 AM , Anonymous said...

Thank you for this post. Exactly what I need to hear.

Sandi

 
On November 20, 2012 at 9:02 AM , ifrog crafter said...

Thank you for sharing this. Will be checking out this book! =)
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On November 21, 2012 at 5:26 PM , Deb (Two Cheeky Monkeys) said...

Thank you for reminding us all about an issue I'm sure we all struggle with from time to time. :)

 
On November 22, 2012 at 2:29 PM , Rafael y Nelly said...

I loved it. Very insightful, and it brings a point home for me. Thank you for sharing.