Choosing Love Over Anxiety

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3

A couple of days ago when one of my coworkers arrived at work, I asked her how her evening went. We always chitchat in the mornings and we are both typically positive people.

But, that morning was different. She had received some bad news about a family friend the night before and was concerned about his health. She had also learned that her mama had the flu, along with a few other pieces of bad news. She had been up most of the night and was frustrated.

I listened sympathetically. Who hasn’t been there?

But, then she showed me a picture of what she did when she couldn’t sleep. She made cinnamon rolls in the shape of hearts, for her daughters to have for breakfast when they awoke.

Her gesture really struck my own heart. Life was throwing punches at her left and right. She could have coped in dozens of different ways, the vast majority probably unhealthy. She could have taken something to sleep. She could have just watched television. She could have tossed and turned all night.

Yet, she chose to do something beautiful and creative in the midst of the chaos. As the storm swirled around her, she focused on her love for her children.

I thought about her gift most of the day. I thought of her decision to give to those who have been given to her rather than to singlemindedly focus and worry about what she had no control over. That takes a certain amount of faith.

The Bible tells us not to worry in many places. Christianity teaches us that God loves us and that He’s always in control. Worrying and anxiety has never solved anything. Yet, we worry. There are so many aspects of our lives that are completely out of our control and instead of recognizing that fact and releasing them to God, we worry.

It’s our attempt at gaining control and taming the chaos. It never works, but we have an enemy who would like for us to believe that it does.

There is another way.

We can choose to be thankful during the storm for all the blessings that we do have. We can live thankfully and share the love with those who are in our circle. We can hug those closest to us extra tightly. We can trust that God is in control.

We can live with wide open hearts. There will always be storms on this side of eternity. We can’t control them. We can control our reaction to them.

Some heart-shaped cinnamon rolls reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂