Sami at Sailor & Co. has been posting about her journey back to her first love- God. One of the ways we can participate in this is to write down everything that distracts us from God and to bury them. I am planning on doing this. I want to bury the distractions in my flower garden and when I see my flowers in bloom this summer I will be reminded that God's mercies are new each morning.
I feel the need to get my thoughts out about a couple of my main distractions. Tonight at Bible study, while reading "Respectable Sins- Confronting The Sins We Tolerate" by Jerry Bridges, I was reminded of what I do that keeps me from trusting my Father in Heaven.
Big problems for me.
Huge.
Anxiety
Frustration
Discontentment
Tonight we read two chapters on these sins. And really, they are sins, we just don't always think of them that way. I have such a hard time with anxiety and worry.
Jerry Bridges put it this way about anxiety, "Suppose someone you love were to say to you, "I don't trust you. I don't believe you love me and will care for me." What an affront that would be to you! Yet that is what we are saying to God by our anxiety."
That hit me hard! I honestly never thought of it that way. I have a twisted way of thinking about anxiety. Deep down, I feel that if I don't worry then what I am worrying about will happen, or get worse.
How silly is that?!
Let's see, if I thought about it- Will my worry help the problem?
NO
Why do I feel the need to worry and get myself physically sick when God is in control?
This is something I really need to work on and it is a huge distraction for me.
The other two sins, frustration and discontentment are also hard for me. I get frustrated so easily. Unfortunately I take those frustrations out on those closest to me. Discontentment is another embarrassing sin. It is so hard sometimes to not compare myself to others or to be discontent with my relationships with my husband, or family and friends.
These are distractions that I need to work on and I hope to improve on these. Can anyone relate? I am sure some of you can.
I am going to make it a goal of mine to not worry. Of course I can never attain that perfection of being anxiety free but in my journey to get back to my first love I hope that I can greatly improve, with God's help of course. Honestly, I could not do this without Him.
I feel the need to get my thoughts out about a couple of my main distractions. Tonight at Bible study, while reading "Respectable Sins- Confronting The Sins We Tolerate" by Jerry Bridges, I was reminded of what I do that keeps me from trusting my Father in Heaven.
Big problems for me.
Huge.
Anxiety
Frustration
Discontentment
Tonight we read two chapters on these sins. And really, they are sins, we just don't always think of them that way. I have such a hard time with anxiety and worry.
Jerry Bridges put it this way about anxiety, "Suppose someone you love were to say to you, "I don't trust you. I don't believe you love me and will care for me." What an affront that would be to you! Yet that is what we are saying to God by our anxiety."
That hit me hard! I honestly never thought of it that way. I have a twisted way of thinking about anxiety. Deep down, I feel that if I don't worry then what I am worrying about will happen, or get worse.
How silly is that?!
Let's see, if I thought about it- Will my worry help the problem?
NO
Why do I feel the need to worry and get myself physically sick when God is in control?
This is something I really need to work on and it is a huge distraction for me.
The other two sins, frustration and discontentment are also hard for me. I get frustrated so easily. Unfortunately I take those frustrations out on those closest to me. Discontentment is another embarrassing sin. It is so hard sometimes to not compare myself to others or to be discontent with my relationships with my husband, or family and friends.
These are distractions that I need to work on and I hope to improve on these. Can anyone relate? I am sure some of you can.
I am going to make it a goal of mine to not worry. Of course I can never attain that perfection of being anxiety free but in my journey to get back to my first love I hope that I can greatly improve, with God's help of course. Honestly, I could not do this without Him.
I totally hear you. Totally.
ReplyDeleteHeather, I can relate...more than I could ever really tell you. I worry all the time too, and here's the real kicker...I worry that if I give it all to God then maybe he will test me to see if I really mean it...then on the other hand, I worry that if I don't then he is going to show me that I should have. AHHHHH. I know it's wrong, and I do try to stop this way of thinking. I never have looked at it the way you mentioned in this post. Going forward that is what I will try to do.
ReplyDeleteI can! I'm trying to finish a post on discontentment right now.
ReplyDeleteBTW, thanks for your prayers! I'll return the favor. :O)
I can relate for sure. Those are such common things that we often don't see them for what they really are. great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing - for revealing your heart. I really appreciate this post :)
ReplyDeleteI've never thought of anxiety as a sin... but really, I guess it is. It's something I never think to mention at confession, but I guess I should. Hmmm. I might need to get a hold of that book!
ReplyDelete~Elizabeth
Confessions From A Working Mom
Its easier said than done, this 'do not worry' business. Yet it is is needed.
ReplyDeleteIts bad for us, to get so anxious, we need to trust and hold fast to God.
Thanks for sharing.
A beautiful and truthful post, and a beautiful blog to go with it!
ReplyDelete