~

This is the daily devotion from the book, “Holding On and Letting Go” and the companion audio from the July 12, 2021 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

Here is day six and an important reminder to pay attention to what you can do today and let go of your worry about the things you can do nothing about.

Let Go Of Worry

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:34 (NIV)

What worries you the most about your current situation?  How would you rate your current level of worry?  Why?  Does your worry focus on what has happened, what might happen, or on what you can do today?  What is the difference?  How will letting go of worry help you to have hope in the midst of your situation of chaos?

Worry carried to an extreme can result in a paralysis that makes it impossible to see and move beyond your current circumstances.  When surrounded by the unknown of chaos, worry can easily take root in the heart of even the most carefree person.  When disaster forces us to let go of many things we would have rather kept, worrying about what we have left or how we will ever recover seems almost natural and even helpful in some way.  Yet when we give worry a foothold it isn’t long before it takes over and keeps us from seeing the daily steps of recovery that are in front of us.  Worrying about yesterday is a form of second-guessing that does us no good as no amount of worry will let us go back and change what has already happened.  Worrying about tomorrow is just as fruitless because we can’t predict the future, let alone control it.  Today’s worry might have limited usefulness, but only if it motivates us to take the action steps necessary to bring about the change we need.  But even today’s worry must be let go of as we trust God to bring hope into our current situation of chaos.

As you pray, ask God to give you a peace that dispels harmful worry as you trust in Him.  Pray that your concern for today would drive you to a responsiveness to God rather than to a mindset of worry.  Pray that you would know the great hope that God wants to give you as you let go of worry.

In prayer,
Tom