Psalm 107:1
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.”

What do you do when worry begins to overwhelm you?  What has you worried today?

As I mentioned in my post last week, How to Effectively Position Yourself for Success, my family and I recently vacationed in Virginia Beach, VA.  While our time was largely spent visiting with friends and enjoying the beautiful oceanfront, part of our trip included checking in on a town home that we still own there.

To give you the back story, my husband and I purchased the town home in 2007 at the height of the housing market.  Actually, my husband purchased it while I was in Iraq, I didn’t see it until months later.  At the time my husband worked diligently with our realtor and I searched what I could online.  Together we believed purchasing that specific condo was a wise decision and one of the only seemingly affordable options.

Fast forward to 2008 and the real estate market collapsed.  Fast forward a few more years and town homes in our community began to sell for tens of thousands of dollars less than what we paid for ours.  Needless to say, when we moved to Minnesota in 2011 we chose to rent our home in Virginia Beach rather than sell it.

When we moved, we hired the man who had served as our realtor, a wonderful man from our church, to manage the property for us.  He had a renter in place within 2 weeks of our move and we were beyond blessed that the same tenant stayed in place for nearly 4 years.

With our longstanding tenant moving out this past month, we decided it was time to check in on the place in person.  We anticipated having to spend a few thousand dollars to get it ready for the next renter, but we were not ready for all that lay in store.  After going through the property carefully with our manager, we began to add up the costs and soon realized that a few thousand dollars was quickly going to turn into several thousand.

To be honest, a few years ago, such a predicament would have completely overwhelmed me.  I would have been stressed to the max and worried incessantly.  But this time was different.  Because I have seen God’s faithfulness to my family over the past 8 years, in the midst of this depressing news I had a complete peace.

It was as though I could hear God saying, “Haven’t I always been faithful?  Go ahead and count the ways.  It will be fine.”

The morning after flying home, my daily Bible reading placed me on Psalm 107, a passage that repeatedly talks about the faithful love of God.  Again, it was as though God was telling me not to worry, that He had everything under control.

Later that morning after making final decisions with my husband regarding the condo, I called our property manager to give him the go ahead on the many decisions we had discussed with him in person.  During our phone conversation; however, he surprised me when he expressed that he wanted to do everything possible to help us out and that he would gladly remove the current flooring and install the new flooring free of charge as he has expertise in that area.  Bam!  That alone took at least $1,000 off our total cost.  Incredible.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I am not saying that just because we believe in God our lives will be trouble free and things will always work out how we hoped; that simply is not the way this broken, fallen world works.

However, as believers in Christ we can rest in the assurance that God is loving, He is faithful, and He has everything under control.

Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.”

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

Psalm 121:1-2 says, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from?  My help comes fro the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

The next time you start to feel overwhelmed with worry, began to recount to yourself all the ways God has shown you His loving faithfulness.  No doubt you will lose count!

God is loving.  He is faithful.  I have seen His faithfulness in my life.  When worry now begins to overtake me, I reflect on His loving faithfulness and know that everything will be okay.

What has you worried today?  How has God been faithful to you in the past?  Go ahead, begin to count the ways.  How are you going to give your current worry to Him?  Will you trust Him today to see you through?

*Would you like a few more passages of encouragement regarding worry?  Consider checking out Luke 12:22-31, Matthew 6:25-34, 11:28-30, Hebrews 13:5-6 and Philippians 4:6.