This Moment
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
The weather is gorgeous. It’s mid-afternoon here. The birds are singing quite lazily, the sun is shinning through the white fluffy clouds; the air is cooler than it has been, bringing with it an ever so subtle change in the season. This change, this subtle shift, brings two conflicting emotions to the surface. Absolute peace and pure panic.
As I stand in front of my flower beds and feel the cooler summer air on my skin I take a deep breath in. I can feel the peace of the summer washing over me. It has been a beautiful, fun, busy, rewarding, blessed summer. We are in those long, lazy days of the season, the days where we have finally fallen into the slower paced routine. I cherish these days. I can reflect on what this summer has been like, the memories that were made, the blessings we saw. These days feel like they will never end, as if the sun will never set. But I also know what these cooler breezes bring with them.
The cooler temperatures, the slightly shorter days, the longer shadows. . .I know they bring a different season. A change of pace. A new chapter. New. Change. Different. AHHH!!!! Am I the only one that panics at this?! Please tell me I’m not the only one! When I feel these cooler temps I start to panic, to worry and I become very anxious. I panic because there’s not enough time left in the summer; there are more adventures I wanted to take my children on and I am running out of time. I am worried that I didn’t spend enough time with my children, that I didn’t focus on them enough, that I didn’t do enough of ‘this’ or I did too much of ‘that’. I get anxious about what this new season is bringing with it: a new school year, new friends, new life adventures. New. New. New. And the anxiety gets bigger. Bigger. Bigger.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4: 6-7)
I would really like to be able to say that as soon as I read these verses from Ecclesiastes and Philippians (repeatedly), my nerves are calm and I am reminded of Who has me, my days, my friends and my family in His hands. I want to say that I am immediately able to put things into perspective and that I can move on with enjoying the sunshine. Unfortunately that is not the case. On top of admitting that, I have to say that this is not just a one time event. Nope, I am almost a pro at the whole panic/anxiety episodes. Please know, I am not, by any means, making lite of the panic and the anxiety. I am completely aware that some of us deal with these episodes quite often and I hear you, I understand. I have found that my humor and laughter after the situation tends to help, even if it’s just a little.
While my humor may help me after the fact, I humbly admit that as I was standing there with the anxious thoughts creeping up my spine, to the back of my neck, through my brain, I froze. I didn’t remember the verses I have written down on my note cards. I didn’t search my heart for that quiet space with God. I started to feel slightly defeated. But then…out of the panicky thoughts I heard Him say to me, “Write about this. Use this!” No, I did not hear an audible voice speaking to me. He spoke to my heart, in that quiet space I said I wasn’t searching for. (We can talk about listening to God’s voice at a later time, because it is such a wonderful experience!) So here I am, writing about how I easily turned a gorgeous, peaceful, summer afternoon into a moment of panic and how God is using it for others, and for me as well.
Matthew 6: 25-34 tells us not to worry and gives us beautiful imagery of why we need not worry:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?…therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6: 25-26, 34)
While Jesus is telling his followers not to worry, that God will feed them and clothe them in more splendor than king Solomon, he also tells them not to worry about tomorrow. Don’t worry about tomorrow. I could repeat that to myself all day long. Christ was telling them to focus on that day, that exact moment, because we can’t change anything by worrying about what may or may not come. We cannot add anything, productive, to our lives by sitting in that worry about what’s on the horizon. He reassured them that God will provide for them, God is looking out for them, watching over them. These words were not just for the disciples that were listening to him at that very moment, they are for us too.
There it is, in black print. The reasons why we need not worry. The reassurance that we are more valuable than the birds in the air and the grass in the fields. The reminder that worrying does nothing for us. So why is it so hard to remember that? Why do we revert back to the worry? Oh friend, I wish I had the answer to that question, I really do. I know how draining it is, how time consuming it can be. I know that there are times the worry and anxiety feel so heavy and unbearable. And let’s be honest, this world has an abundance of issues that can plague us. However, we need to continually remind ourselves that God is in control of what causes us to worry, even if we don’t see it.
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you!“ (1 Peter 5:7 ~ emphasis mine)
Yes! There’s the answer to our question. There is the relief from the weight of our worry, our panic and our anxious thoughts. There we find comfort and peace. Giving God all of our anxiety frees us to live as He intended us to live: in peace and in love. Placing all of our concerns at His feet allows Him to pick them up in His hands and relieve us from the weight of the worry. I have always had a very vivid image of me physically placing my worry and anxiety at the foot of the throne and walking away. As I turn He leans down to pick them up. With one hand he easily takes care of the mass of distress that I have dragged, pushed and pulled to Him.
My point is this: to me my anxiety about what’s to come, my worry about not being enough or doing enough, my panic about not having enough time…all of that is too much for me to bear. It’s overwhelming and suffocating. It robs me, and those around me, of the joy and peace that is available to me. It steals the beauty of the day that is right in front of me. For God, though, it is nothing. It is weightless to Him. He can shoulder my worry, concerns, anxious thoughts and the panic that wraps it all up in a nice, albeit huge and messy, package. He is more than enough to fill my worried mind with peace. He can easily take care of what’s to come. And more importantly He can comfort me through all of it.
Philippians 4:7 reminds us that when we are not anxious, but pray about our worries, “…the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The peace of God…we don’t understand it, we can’t explain it…but it there, waiting for us to grab it. This peace allows us to enjoy each and every moment that we are in. This peace allows us to embrace the here and now, the excitement of the days ahead of us, the joy of the blessings we encounter throughout the day.
Yes, we need to plan our lives accordingly and cannot just live life carelessly. Yes, there are events in our lives that will need our full attention, that will need more of our focus and time. There will be changes on the horizon that will try and stir up the panic and anxiety. And, unfortunately, there will be moments of unexpected chaos and concern, for ourselves and our loved ones. However, the plans we have to make, the changes that are inevitable, the expected events, should not have us panicking over them. The next chapter in our life should not bring anxious thoughts and worry. We need to remind ourselves to cast all of it on our God and just be in the moment.
My prayer for you is that you find peace in each moment, that when you feel the anxiety start to creep in you search your heart for God’s voice. I pray that each moment brings new blessings and comfort for your worries. I pray that God’s voice reminds you to cast your concerns on Him because He cares for you and can handle anything you give Him. I pray that the verses from Ecclesiastes 3 settle you into a beautiful, peaceful rhythm of each and every moment.
“There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plan and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love an a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8)
See you on the front porch.