Not that I’m over 40. Because what woman would ever admit to that? But let’s just say that my 39th birthday could soon encounter its own significant milestone. A milestone like: my 39th birthday realizing it might be eligible to VOTE. Oi vey. I’m feeling right now like I’ve put a lot of miles on a lot of milestones. So many miles that my engine probably needs a bit of an overhaul. And we won’t even talk about the bodywork.
If I did happen to mention any needed bodywork, however, I’m sure I would start with the face. Makeup? Not keeping up. I’m thinking of putting down the makeup and picking up the spackle. Maybe some grout. Maybe mortar. Because some of these wrinkles are going deep. Really deep. I call them wrinkles but a couple are more like pleats. In fact, if it’s true that beauty is only skin deep, I’m wondering if I might be more beautiful than any of us can handle. Makeup sponge? Nah, hand me that trowel, thanks.
Personally though, I’ve decided not to fret the wrinkles too much. For one thing, fretting is pointless. For another, they say it causes wrinkles. I don’t have time for that kind of makeup. Or masonry.
Worry not only adds lines to the face, it chips away at our peace of mind. When our minds are filled with worry, there’s not room for much else. It gets in the way of what God calls us to do. I’ve come across fellow believers through the years who readily admit that worry is their way of life. They confess to actually embracing it. Getting comfortable in it, even.
Have you ever let a fretful way of thinking hinder you? Have you let it keep you from something you know God has called you to do? I’m embarrassed to tell you that I found myself there this week. And it was folly.
That wrinkle-inducing worry is the opposite of trust. And let’s think about it. It really is downright foolish to doubt our God—regardless of any life-wrinkle. We have a God who has proven His trustworthiness again and again throughout time. If you allow Him to do it, that trustworthy God will help you through your anxiousness. He can squelch your worry. Not only squelch it, but shoulder it for you. “Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you,” (1 Peter 5:7, ESV).
I love the way the Amplified so beautifully expands on this passage: “Casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].”
At every cast of every worry, we’re reminded of the loving Father who watches over us “very carefully” and “with deepest affection.” There’s safety there that smooths out a worry—no matter how wrinkly-bumpy-brambly our circumstances. We can remember that God is so much bigger than any situation we’ll ever find ourselves in.
So. Ready…set…cast ‘em! Let’s let go of the fretting and stewing and hold on instead to His peace. There’s nothing too big, too strong, too hard, too high for Him. Nothing too deep either. And that high thought puts a whole new—and quite lovely – wrinkle in it.