The Worry Box that has a Flip Side

Does anyone else have a worry box? No? Well, allow me to explain.

About 3 years ago, I came across an idea that I decided to put into practice in my life. The idea was this.

Get yourself a small box of some sort. It could be a jewellery box or a trinket box or simply a small Tupperware container. The box is not important.

Each time you feel yourself worrying over some issue, take a small post it or a slip of paper, and write your worry down on it along with the date.

Be as specific or as general as you like, but make sure you understand what you’ve written, for future reference.

After you’ve written your worry down, hold the piece of paper in your hand, and stop for a moment, taking time to pray over it, asking God to take your worry, your anxiety, your fear, casting all your care on him and then simply LET IT GO. Drop it into your box and close it up.

Now, the difficult part. Try not to let your thoughts stray back to that particular worry. It’s been given to God. You don’t need to take it back.

What I find is that as I write down one worry, another springs to mind, and then another and another. And pretty soon, I’ve written and prayed over more worries than I anticipated.

I’m so glad God is big enough to carry all my burdens. And yours too. He doesn’t have to put down mine, in order to pick up yours. He can hold them all.

Psalm 55:22 - Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

1 Peter 5:7 - Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Isaiah 41:10 - Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

There are countless verses in Scripture that teach us to give God our worries.

Over and over, we read of God’s promises to us as we put our faith and trust in him.

God promises rest for your soul- Matthew 11:28-30

God promises to guard/keep your heart and mind -Philippians 4:6-7

God promises to be a firm foundation-Psalm 61:2

God promises peace-John 14:27

God promises never to leave you- Deuteronomy 31:8 

God promises to uphold you- Isaiah 41:10 

God promises to renew your strength- Isaiah 40:31

For me, the tangible, visibleness of an actual box, with actual slips of paper in it, is a reminder to me of God’s goodness to me and his ability to keep his promises.

And the act of physically letting go of the slip of paper, letting it drop into the box, helps me to visualize handing it over to God. Opening my hand and letting go.

I haven’t written many down of late, and not because I haven’t had any worries, but simply because the box was in a less prominent place and had become forgotten. Which has now been remedied!

But tonight as I sat at my desk going through emails and doing paperwork for our business, the thoughts began to creep in and fears started swirling around my head, threatening to overwhelm me. And God, in his goodness, brought my little box back to mind.

As I reached for it and slid back the clasp, opening it to reveal a myriad of multi-coloured post its, I began to casually pick up a slip at a time and read what was written. Reading over my worries didn’t cause anxiety, they caused a heart of worship and praise to rise within me as I rejoiced at God’s answers to my prayers.

There were so many worries I had written down, that God had miraculously come through and answered.

From concerns over finances, to knowing whether to sell our house, to worries over new grandbabies being added to the family and whether or not my daughters could cope with the added stresses, to a very scary and very real battle with cancer that our oldest daughter had to face, to my increased workload due to our business growing, and then the fears when it all fell apart and we were faced with months of uncertainty.

One after the other, I praised God for the blessings he had showered upon me and my family and the answers he had given and the grace he had shown in abundance.

I’m beginning to think that my little ‘worry’ box should also be called a ‘praise’ box!

(And yes, I did add quite a few to its contents, praying over them as I went.)

Not only do I need to bring my cares to Jesus and lay them at his feet, but I also need to come back and praise him for his answers.

Ephesians 5:20 - Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Psalm 34:1 -I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Don’t forget to thank God for his goodness to you.

We all have worries. We all have anxieties. We all have fears. We all struggle with peace. We all struggle with feeling overwhelmed.

We are encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace and find the help we need.

Hebrews 4:16 - Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

What a blessing it is to know that we can come boldly to the throne. We don’t need to be intimidated by what in ancient times was considered a forbidding place of sovereign authority and judgment. No, we are able to approach the throne boldly, at any time, with any worry or care, with fearless confidence knowing that we will be welcomed by our Saviour.

As his children, we are welcome any time. There is never a time his arms are not open wide, waiting for us to come and receive comfort and assurance.

If you’re worries are getting you down, if you’re struggling with your thoughts and you can’t seem to let go of something, try making yourself a ‘worry/praise’ box.

When the worries hit hard, write them down. Drop them in. Let them go.

Then periodically, go back over them and spend time praising God for his wonderful grace, love and mercy.

Replace your worry with prayer. Make the decision to pray whenever you catch yourself worrying.

Yesterday is too heavy. Lay it down. Today is too difficult. Lay it down. Tomorrow is too unknown and fearful. Lay it down. Give it to the Lord.

Give your cares to him through prayer and make sure you pair it with thanksgiving and the peace of God will wash over you and will keep you.

Philippians 4:6-7 KJV - Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 

Turn your worry box into a praise box!