I am so honored to guest post for the inspiring Amanda Wells today. She is the wife of a third generation farmer and a mother of 6 little ones. She was one of the first people to reach out to me after moving to our new home in Jacksonville, Florida. I enjoyed a lovely evening at her church (Turning Point at Calvary in St. Augustine) for their women’s ministry banquet. You will want to visit her site and get to know her heart! I love her writing and so will you!
Boy, do I know how to borrow trouble?!
My mind thinks, “Why waste time when I can worry about tomorrow, today?”
It is in my nature as a “planner” and a “fixer” to fret over what MAY happen. “Hope for the best and prepare for the worst” is my motto.
Jesus has been teaching me much these last years about “letting go”, as in worrying about the future or trying to prepare too far in advance. I can worry and fret about things that may never actually become a reality!
In essence, worry is feeling bad about what HASN’T happened.
What a waste of time AND emotion?!
I was reminded of this as I read through Exodus 16 and saw how intrinsic it was for some of the Israelites to try and gather enough manna for tomorrow’s need. They had been instructed by Moses to only gather enough for today. They were NOT to gather more than they needed for that one day.
When the LORD rained the manna down from heaven, which was a miracle in and of itself, He gave the specifics about the limitations as a test of their obedience- to see whether they would follow His instructions (Exodus 16:4-5). God always has an intention to benefit our faith through any and every means. Even the simple act of acquiring food was to have the goal of building trust and obedience in the Israelites.
By giving the limit of how much they were to gather, this tested whether they would trust Him to meet tomorrow’s need. It seems human nature to live in God’s provision and faithfulness today but then fret about the likelihood of it happening tomorrow.
It seems human nature to live in God’s provision and faithfulness today yet fret about the likelihood of it happening tomorrow. Share on XI know this tendency first hand.
Come with me over to Farmwyfe.com for the rest of my post.
Cathy says
This is such a helpful post for me to read. I’m a worrier and it is so draining! My boys are only one and three and already I’m worried about adolescence. It robs joy of today and is such a waste of energy. Thanks for the reminder to live one day at a time just like the Israelites. God provides for all our needs and can be trusted.
Gretchen Fleming says
Yes and amen Cathy! Worry creeps up on us I think and makes us captive before we realize what is happening.Living in the moment, today, now, that is where His burden is easy and His yoke light. Whenever I don’t feel like that I know I have started to look ahead too much and worry about the future. Thanks for stopping by!
Betsy de Cruz says
Wow, the first lines of this post are coming straight from my own head, it seems like! I’m heading over to read the rest!
(Hi there, Gretchen. 🙂 )
Gretchen Fleming says
Thanks so much Betsy! Hope you are having a great week
Sarah says
I find myself so distracted sometimes, thinking about what could happen next year. What good would that ever do?
Gretchen Fleming says
So true Sarah! When I realized that worry was feeling bad over what hasn’t happened, I could see how ridiculous it is and why on earth would I knowingly choose that for myself! Sometimes, all it takes is God shifting my perspective so I see more clearly and wow! What a game changer!