[Image courtesy of Free Foto]
Yesterday I realized that Spring has always brought significant changes in my life. Either the immediate change itself, or news that heralds change. This year is no different. However, this year the anticipated news has been the cause of much anxiety.
There’s the sheer misery of having to wait all this time to receive the news. And it is still not here yet. Frayed nerves I tell you!
Isn’t that much of what life is like though? There are periods of relative calm and then there are those moments when you are clueless. It is in those moments that we get an even stronger sense of our mortality. We are forced to admit that we are not in control of all things. And for me, I choose to believe that God is in control.
Sometimes that knowledge makes it all the more easier to wait – especially when I’m confident that whatever the response God is in control. And it is that reminder that points out not just the folly, but the sinfulness of anxiety.
I Matthew 6:27 Jesus asks – Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to the span of your life? (NRSV) And that is so true. Worry or anxiety gets us nothing more than increased stress and said stress only brings us ill-health or shortens our life. Those truths are easier said than believed though.
Women across the world are prone to worrying more. There are just so many things that rest in our hands, so many who are dependent upon us. Worry and anxiety becomes second nature. And yet, women are still tenacious in our faith. What a tumultuous relationship we have with God. Makes me wonder….
I suppose too that our worry is greater, the more we feel we have at stake and the longer it takes for us to receive an answer in the affirmative. For isn’t the latter the real issue. We want to hear a positive response to our plans. However, true faith in God means that we during our period of waiting should be open to hearing either a yes or a no and believe that God knows best and acts in our best interest – even if we can’t see now, the truth of that.
Wait and be of good courage..
Marvia