Worry vs. Truth

Joshua 1:8- Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.

 I remember when I first began digging into The Lords word. It was so foreign to me. I could not understand any of it. It was as though I was reading a book written in another language. Determined to make it a daily discipline that I would do at the start of my day, I continued. With time and persistence, I began to notice a shift taking place. Not only was I understanding what I was reading, but I was able to navigate around it much easier, and I was memorizing scriptures in the process. In fact, I began quoting scriptures in my head without even realizing it. This brings me to the second tool that we can use when worrying arises and that is meditating on Gods words.

In addition to doing a devotional each morning that included reading several scriptures, I began to refer to The Lords word each time that I was faced with a situation in my life. An example of this for me would be fear. Not only did I find all of the scriptures pertaining to fear , but I focused on one in particular by writing it down on a note card, carrying it in my pocket and referring to it each time fear entered into my subconscious throughout the day. In other words, fearful thoughts prompted me to pull out my note card and redirect my attention to The Lords word.

At one point, fear had such a hold me that I was waking up in the middle of the night as a result of it. Thankfully, with time, I learned to meditate on the scripture that I had been focusing on when it did. In this case it was Isaiah 41:10- “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. I would repeat it over and over in my head until I fell back to sleep. This process not only brought me comfort, but it helped me to take the focus off of the thing that I was fearful of, and onto The Lord. See, our minds cannot fully focus on 2 things at one time; therefore, we must choose what we will direct our attention to. Yes, we have a choice. Although thoughts like fear and worry may come, we don’t have to allow them to stick around. Instead, we can focus on what we know to be true, and for me, that is The Lords words.

Friends, if you don’t get anything out of this post, please get these 2 things. First, The Lords words are not just words. Instead, they are powerful tools that he has given us to use for clarity, direction, and ammunition, if you will.  Second, although thoughts, like worry inevitably come to mind, we do not have to entertain them. The only power that ANYTHING has over us, including worry, is the power that we choose to give it. By worrying about something, we essentially choose to give power to it. Why? Why would we choose to waste our precious time on worrisome thoughts when they do not serve us in anyway?

With that in mind, please take sometime to consider what I have said today. Perhaps, you can write down a scripture or two of your own. Or, maybe even come up with a similar idea to do, instead. If you do, and you want to share, please comment below or send me an email. I would love to hear from you. In the mean time, I will plan on seeing you back here tomorrow. Take care!

Warmest regards,

Salina Watson