Paralyzed by (Unknown) Endings?

I really appreciated Dave’s post today:

And the CCEF FaceBook update that followed it by just a few minutes:

“Can you understand why you worry when you think about tomorrow? You worry because you don’t have what you need yet. If you imagine tomorrow’s misery without tomorrow’s manna, of course you are going to worry. Tomorrow’s manna isn’t on the ground yet. You have manna for today only. In his great wisdom, God doesn’t give you tomorrow’s manna today. Otherwise you would forget him and trust in yourself.” – Ed Welch, “When I Am Afraid” (found by CCEF student Ellie Grigsby)

Both messages helped me to pull it together and actually DO something today when I was tempted to be paralyzed by far too many unknowns:

– What if I stay sick and have to travel to California with no voice, feeling terrible, unable to serve as well? And what if that rolls into Texas and then New York and then Nevada? (Yeah. Right. Sore throats are really known to last for over a month, Tara. Can you say Drama Queen? Silly Tara.)

– What if I really have passed some rubicon in the time space continuum of disorder and I never CAN find the end to the piles in my office? (Again. Not really as bad as I was making them out to be. One hour of diligent work and everything as stapled, shredded, filed, etc. I even unearthed my teaching notes for this weekend. Hooray!)

– I am right now, today, tempted to stress over whether I’ll have time to clean my house before my parents arrive for a visit THE LAST WEEK OF MAY. OK. Now, seriously. Even for me, this is just downright silly. As soon as I type it, I see that it’s just wasted energy and actually nonsensical.

But worry really does FEEL like you’re accomplishing something, doesn’t it? Spinning our emotional wheels in the mud. Actually making progress on nothing. Usually FAR overestimating the size of the task rather than resting in the provision that God makes for us.

Yeah. I’m rightfully (gently) rebuked and (greatly) encouraged. Off to mind my present duties now …

“Let us mind present duty, and then leave events to God; do the work of the day, and then let tomorrow bring its work along with it. It is the will of the Lord Jesus that his disciples should not be their own tormentors, nor make their passage through the world more dark and unpleasant, by their own apprehension of troubles, than God has made it by the troubles themselves.” Matthew Henry

Blessings and joy,
Tara B.