Why Is It So Hard To Worry Less And Trust More

I struggle with control issues. I’m sure many of you probably feel the same way, and situations I have no control over drive me crazy. It doesn’t matter if the issue is minor, like decorating a Christmas Tree; it can still cause me stress. Control, stress, worry, and trust all seem to be this never-ending cycle that keeps repeating itself.

I can’t control the sun rising every morning. That is a known fact, and I have no problem trusting that the Lord will have the sun in the sky, even if clouds hide it. I know it is there, even if I can’t see it. But, let one little and insignificant problem come up, and I am immediately thrown into a tailspin of stress and worry.

My days are usually uneventful, and I live a very blessed life. I’m so thankful for the Lord’s many blessings, and He has always been there with me, even when I’ve gone through storms. When I think of the significant storms I’ve been through, I can see how the Lord was in control the whole time. These storms were things I couldn’t control, and stress and worry were my constant companions. I’m a “the glass is half full” kind of person, but when major storms hit, the glass suddenly becomes empty.

How do you keep stress and worry from taking up residence in your brain when things are spinning out of control? Reading Matthew 6:25-34 is a start. These verses are filled with wisdom and encouragement. The Lord tells us that He will provide for us. Worrying doesn’t change the situation, but seeking the Lord does.

Matthew 6:25-34

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?

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.

The real problem is a lack of trust. Some situations require you to depend on others, and people can let you down. Humans are flawed, and even those we love most can still let us down and disappoint us. But, the GREAT NEWS is the Lord is not like humans.

Numbers 23:19

¹⁹ God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

James 1:17

¹⁷ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Psalms 20:7

⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Trusting in man is not the answer. Chariots and horses have long been replaced. Trusting in the Lord will bring joy and peace, even when the storms are raging. He alone can calm the storms; “Peace, Be Still!”

To God Goes The Glory!

Have A Blessed Day!