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Wednesday, Jan 3 - Surrendering Your Worry
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DEVOTIONAL: “SURRENDERING YOUR WORRY”
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“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” (Psalm 55:22)
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Worry, stress, anxiety, fear… these are possibly some of the most common emotions the majority of us struggle with in life. You might mistakenly think worry can be a GOOD thing because you believe it shows you care. Or perhaps you believe an anxious heart is just part of your personality, or something that “runs in the family.” But did you know chronic worry is actually a sin?
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The late Pastor Tim Keller said, “When we worry, we are saying, ‘I know the way MY life is supposed to go, and God's not getting it right.’” You might claim God knows better than you do, and even proclaim He is all-knowing and all-powerful. But while you may know these facts in your mind, your anxious heart reveals otherwise. When you don't surrender your worries to the Lord, you are saying you don't truly believe He is in control of all things. By succumbing to fear, you preach lies to yourself, misrepresenting to your soul who God is. Worry is taking God off the throne of your heart and replacing Him with an idol made out of the things about which you worry, sadly showing you DO indeed have other gods before Him.
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So what can you do practically to surrender your fears to Him?
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First, pray! Place these burdens in His lap. Then regularly remind yourself you’ve already surrendered these anxieties.
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Second, accept things the way they are. Acceptance means acknowledging things may not be ideal in life right now, yet maintains that God is in complete control. By confidently accepting His plan, you reject bitterness, anger, fear, and the enemy's plans to harm you. What Satan means for evil, God can work for good (Genesis 50:20).
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Third, trust. Tim Keller once said, ”God will only give you what you WOULD HAVE asked for if you knew everything He knows." So choose to believe in God's goodness, power, wisdom, love, and mercy. Then preach this truth to yourself daily!
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Fourth, repeat. When you find yourself holding too tightly to the things of this world, surrender them again and again. Remind yourself, His promise is to sustain you, no matter how heavy the burden. So cast your burden on Him and surrender your worries.
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Holy Spirit, please empower me to truly cast my anxiety upon you. Remind me that you care more for me than I do for these worries. Forgive me when I try to take these worries back from you. Help me to fully surrender these concerns to you… [take some time to name some of the things you regularly worry about]
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