Wonderful

An Obsessive's Journey Away from Worry to Wonderful

Question - What is a thought, worry or concern regarding something you have fixated on that has impacted your ability to enjoy life?

One of my favorite movies is one titled “What about Bob”. It’s about a love-able character name Bob Wiley who has many issues in life including multiple phobias. There is a scene where Bob leaves his house at the beginning of the movie and while walking through the streets of his city, completely terrified, he recites the line over over to himself, “I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful”.

It’s amazing how over the last month and a half I have found myself repeating this same line over and over to myself. “I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful.”

I struggle with obsessive tendencies. Worry comes my way naturally. I fixate on a potential problem and I immediately jump to the worst case scenario. Recently, I have been replaying what I have touched, who else has handled things and why that person had to be so close to me. It’s a reel that runs through my mind in the store, at the mailbox and on neighborhood runs.

I can’t even imagine what the new normal will look like with the way my brain is wired.  Yet, I know I am going to have to find a way to cope and it will be important for me to move from a position of worry to a healthier perspective very soon. 

If you look up antonyms for the word worry, the word abide appears. What a great word.

To worry is to focus on the past. To abide is to grab hold of the present. 

To worry is to hold on to things that are out of my control. To abide is to let go and trust.

To worry is to fixate on next week, next month and even next year. To abide is to dream of today.

To worry is to think about what can go wrong in my world. To abide is to dream of better days for others.

One of my favorite passages as I have struggled over the years comes from Matthew 6. In it Jesus says,

25 “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 clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

It’s freeing to know that the world keeps turning as challenges continue. We move around the Sun at a mind blowing speed, slightly tilting as we go, resulting in a little more daylight every 24 hours. The birds wake and grow louder each day. Life moves ahead. The buds appear on the trees and flowers will soon be blooming in the gardens. There is a plan for when the Sun will set tonight. God has this!

My worries are big, but my God is bigger. He knows what I need, what we dream of and what His creation longs for. He will provide. My worry of tomorrow can be handled by abiding in the beauty and wonder of today. The chance to love, to serve and to find joy in Him. 

God has truly made a wonderful world. Lets enjoy that wonder by abiding in Him

Question - What is one way you can abide today? What can you take joy in today and celebrate right now?

Prayer - Dear Lord, thank you for being bigger than our problems. We lay our worries at your feet. Please help us to trust that you hear our concerns and you can take them away. Let us abide in you, in your beauty, in your creation and in your Love. Thank you for your wonderful world.

Amen