The craziest thing happens every month.
On the first Saturday, we gather with the homeless and poor in our community at Manna House to have a church service outside, although no one is an outsider. Everyone is welcome. Clean clothes aren’t required. Body odor is allowed.
And every Saturday, just the right musicians show up to sing to hungry souls, just the right food shows up to fill empty bellies, and just the right hands show up to serve and hug and love.
So why do I worry each time?
Because—I hate to admit this—I’m a worrier.
I can get anxious over small things, big things, trivial things, anything. I don’t want to. I see it as a hole in my faith.
I find myself mentally preparing for potential bad outcomes so I won’t be caught off-guard.
- What if not enough people come to serve the food on Saturday?
- What if we run out of food altogether?
- What if I’m asked to do something I’m uncomfortable with, like this?
What if?
No.
I’m slowly growing into a better question: What is it?
“What is it” was what the Israelites called manna. Remember when they were traveling through the wilderness after being freedom from slavery in Egypt? God provided them food in fine, flake-like, white wafers that rained down from heaven each morning (Exodus 16:1-36).
He promised to give the perfect amount for each day.
- If they weren’t grateful to gather it each morning, the sun melted it instead.
- If they became greedy and collected more than they needed, it “bred worms and stank” before the next day, proving more than useless.
Day after day after day, God met their needs in the moment.
That’s what I’m learning, too.
If I will stay present, focused on the person and the task right in front of me, God will provide what I need for it.
This day is not only where God is, but this day is also when God is.
Anxiety only surfaces when I open a time gap, thinking too far ahead without God, instead of being available to Him now. If there’s anything I need to put off until tomorrow, it’s my fretting. I’d rather stay preoccupied with noticing God’s provision today.
I want to look up each morning and receive the grace that God rains down today.
What is it?
It’s grace.
- It’s the power to stay in the moment.
- To sit with God in the now.
- To be okay in this place, in this time, with these provisions, knowing God is enough.
God provided daily for the Israelite travelers on their journey through the desert. He gave them manna.
God provides daily for our journeys now. He gives us grace.
It’s the craziest thing, and it happens every day.
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
– Jesus (Matthew 6:34 MSG)
How do you defeat anxiety? What scripture helps you? Please share in the comments.
More about God in the now:
You wrote this just for me, didn’t you, friend? Because all the transitions and griefs over the past 6 months have collided together and left me in the place where anxiety has come to call.
I hate it.
I don’t see it as a hole in my faith though. For spiritually, I’ve never been in a better place. For me, it’s in the gene pool, and it raises it’s ugly head periodically.
Even as I tend to the emotional, mental, and spiritual areas of my life, I’m seeing this foe for what it is for me. A physical malady that responds to medical treatment.
And in doing so, I can continue on my way, adjusting, grieving, making conscious choices that bring me closer to health and wholeness, moving ahead with my new life.
And that’s one of the reasons why my ‘morning invitations’ 31 Day series means so much to me personally. I’m not defined by my current malady. I’m defined by my Savior!
;-}
Beautifully spoken, Linda. Anxiety (and depression as well) is also in my gene pool. I see it generation after generation. Thank you for the reminder that daily grace can also come through medical treatment. God is not limited in his choices for how he heals us, and I’ve seen him use daily medication as saving grace for many in my family and friends.
You have definitely been through so much change and loss in 2015. Your faith in Jesus continues to shine through it all. Thank you for sharing that with us because it encourages our faith as well.
If they weren’t grateful to gather it each morning, the sun melted it instead.
I needed this today. Thank you–you will never know how timely your encouragement is. God bless you! Thank you for caring about others–including me.
I’m glad God knows. I know you have many family responsibilities every day and you’re doing an awesome job, Susan. Daily grace is a necessity for all of us. Blessings to you today.
Your work with the homeless and the marginalized is an inspiration, Lisa.
At this point, just physically dealing with life is getting harder every day, so I don’t really worry. It makes it much easier to live in the now.
Though it’s not Scripture, the opening lines from Yamamoto Tsusenori’s “Hagakure” (which became the basis for Bushido) says that a Samurai should live in such a way that he is always prepared to die.
Quite a target at which to aim in one’s life, and it is, for me, necessary.
My work with them is so minimal, Andrew, but thank you. It’s taken me too many years to finally realize how much this community can help me grow up in Christ.
Dealing with each day is enough in the best of times, but I honestly can’t imagine how it is in the hardest of times that you are experiencing. :( Your line from Hagakure is appropriate for all of us: live prepared to die. Praying for grace to show up strong in this day for you.
Lisa, you’re in my head on this one. I have wasted more food in my over-preparation for events, wasted more time figuring angles than I can even account for. Grace is the answer to all my panic, isn’t it? I’m so intent on “perfect” and “seamless” that I make life way more complicated than it needs to be. So much good stuff in this piece!
Sounds like our overactive brains work the same way, Michele. I definitely am an over-preparer, too. And I’m married to a man who is the opposite and is far more spontaneous. God knew I would need balancing out. That’s part of my grace from Him! :)
Excellent advice, Lisa. We get so caught up with our senses we forget that it isn’t by our senses or strength that we’re really provided for. I tend to be a worrier too, but with time and wisdom earned the hard way, I’m coming around.
Just last week I was watching a hummingbird with his beak in one of our yellow bells and thought about how much worry I’ve spent in my life over basic things that don’t add up to nothing. The words of Christ ring in my head more often these days, “Let tomorrow worry about tomorrow…”
Thanks for the encouraging reminder.
Exactly, Floyd:
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” Zechariah 4:6.
I’m learning the hard way too, but as long as we’re learning, let’s count it a win. :) God has been patient with us.
Wonderful, wonderful post, Lisa! This here > “This day is not only where God is, but this day is also when God is.” So grateful we were neighbors today!
Thanks, Joanne. I know that God goes behind and before us, but it’s in this exact moment where we have his presence the most fully, right where we are. That truth really helps me so much!
I have a nervous temperament, and I’ve struggled with anxiety. When I start to get those feelings of high energy and my body takes over, putting on worship music really helps to calm me down. And a good dose of Scripture memorization helps clear my mind and remind me what is true. — I think for major anxiety, it’s important to work with a good doctor — I’ve met so many women online who are now house bound because they are overcome with fear and anxiety and never really dealt with it in a healthy way. I faced overwhelming anxiety after a health crisis in 2012, and I am so thankful for the great doctor who helped me get back on the road to well-being. Sometimes, the weight of this world is heavy, and it’s okay to reach out for help. It’s not a sign of weakness, but of wisdom.
Yes, yes! Thank you, Lyli, for sharing that it IS okay to reach out for help. God gives us so many wonderful resources—including great doctors. What a blessing that you found one who was able to help you. I like your other avenues as well—worship music and scripture memorization both are great sources for me to calm my mind too.
What a fabulous question! Thanks for this good reminder that “what if” gets us nowhere good and that there is an alternative to get to the truth.
Thanks, Natalie. I often need redirecting from the “what if’s” because I can get too wound up in imaginary scenarios that way. Looking instead for what God is doing now has definitely brought me more peace.
I can always count on you to bring up grace in the best ways, Lisa. That crazy grace, always available. ;-)
Yes, that crazy grace is what gets us through every time. :) I love how God sprinkles it in in just the right ways at just the right times. Thanks, Caroline.