I do my fair share of worrying but my best and most committed worrying (the kind I stay awake for) is done for those closest to me.
The other day I was worrying about the length of time my adult son was on his computer. I suggested (insisted) he went for a walk. He pointed out that my need for him to go for a walk was largely about making myself feel better.
He was right.
If he went for a walk, then I could stop worrying about… fresh air and vitamin D.
It got me thinking about how fretting about someone else is something I ‘put’ on myself – it’s not something they ‘do’ to me.
When I think my worrying will be solved by the other person doing something differently (aka my way) and they don’t, then I am making ‘worry’ something that is happening to me, when it’s mostly something I’m doing to myself.
It reminds me that my worries are best shaped into prayers. That is where I find peace in the things I can’t change or are not mine to change.
“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” Philippians 4:6-7 MSG https://bible.com/bible/97/php.4.6-7.MSG
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