Letting Go of Worry

There are a lot of encouraging words spread around my room–verses and quotes that inspire and remind me of Whose I am. I need these. They’re daily reminders to a heart that easily entangles itself in worry and questions and doubts.

Beloved, God chose you from the beginning.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

In all things God works for the good of those who love Him.

And regardless of what else you put on, wear love.

They’re all pretty and encouraging, but as I looked around my room today, the natural sunlight playing against the pieces of artwork, I sensed a theme running beneath the nice words.

I want to make a difference for God.

I want to dream big dreams and trust Him to carry me, lead me, show me the way. I deeply desire to love as He has called me to love. And I desperately want to believe all of this is possible, and so I set up reminders for my eyes to find when my heart needs remembering. Because right now there are a lot of unknowns knocking on that pretend door of my heart.

I’ve been trying to ignore the sounds, ignore the knocking.

But maybe today we could just talk about those questions instead?

 

Worry

Worry and I were BFFs for a while.

We’d hang out in my head and after enough time with her, I would let her thoughts slip through my lips. Worry makes the glass look half-empty or totally empty or like maybe you need a set of 12 glasses, not just one, because that one could break and then what would you do and how would you clean up the mess? So maybe you need a mop, too. And while you’re at it, those 12 glasses are too many for just you so find some friends and make time but wait, did you forget to clean up the mess you made?

(If you give a girl a cookie – or let her worry….)

It never ends, a cycle that in and of itself is a complete mess. But as I sat in my room with the windows letting in bright light, I read one sentence in a book and couldn’t help but pause and think about the truth in these words:

Worrying is like praying for what you don’t want. – Lara Casey

Worry is a thief, stealing joy from today.

Worry is a jerk, replaying worst-case scenarios.

Worrying often keeps us replaying the past, frustrated with the present, and anxious about the future. There is no win when it comes to worry, and there is certainly no end, either. You can worry until daylight and then the world wakes and there are one trillion new things to worry about.

It is pointless and haunting and endless.

[Tweet “The time spent worrying is time taken away from praying for the very things that cause us worry.”]

I’ll be graduating from college next month. There are more unknowns in my life than ever before. Everyone has questions and I have no answers. It’s all meant kindly, of course, and I’m incredibly grateful to have a community of people who care so deeply about me. But at the end of the day, the truth is I just don’t know.

Maybe you don’t, either?

I don’t know where I’ll live, what I’ll do, how I’ll pay the bills, if I’ll have roommates, if my degree will even be of use, how I’ll manage to make a new group of friends, or how I’ll keep up with my people who are currently just a dorm away.

I could circle through those thoughts all day long but I just end up crying and not in that, “Oh, isn’t that cute? Look at that one dainty tear-drop slipping from the corner of her eye” way. No ma’am, mention the word graduation and I become a blubbering mess as the worries creep in.

When we stop praying we start worrying.

So I’m talking and listening and finding truth in who He is in my situation. Because although my situation may change and new worries will likely present themselves, God will not change one iota.

I wrote it recently, but the honest truth is all those things I write over in my little corner of the internet? I sure hope they encourage, yes. But mainly I’m writing to myself. I want to remember all that He is re-membering, redeeming, and writing across every page of my story.

So I wrote these words because some days you can look at words around your room and some days you’ve just got to pause and preach to your own heart:

Maybe it’s not about knowing the answers but trusting the Answer.

Maybe it’s a lot less about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel than it is trusting the sun will rise and the Son is Light.

Write it down, friend. Memorize Truth and place reminders around your room.

Choose to walk in wisdom and live in love, leaving a legacy of grace instead of worry.

 

Looking for helpful resources on this topic?

Check out the More to Be ID Cards–perfect to print out and use as reminders of Truth.

 

2 thoughts on “Letting Go of Worry”

  1. Thank you for this, Kaitlyn! I’ve been thinking about the unknown, lately, too! Specifically that WONDERFUL question, “where do you see yourself in five years?” I’ve never known how to answer. This past Sunday kindof as an aside, my pastor was talking about the idea that who you will become is largely defined by the people you spend time with and the books you read. For some reason that helped me. I pictured my best friends and their characteristics- caring, hospitable, brave- I definitely want to be more like them in five years! So it’s helping me to think of the future in terms of “who am I becoming” (which I think is more important, anyway) more than “location/job/etc.”

    I so know how it feels, answering all those questions! Or trying to answer them! I think it’s perfectly great to say, “I don’t know yet.” You will take it one step at a time and you’ll be fine! 🙂

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