2-Name what IS worrying you;
3-Hand it over and look beyond.
It’s the same in life. At some point we have to find the strength to let go of the fear and look up, beyond the worry to the horizon of opportunities right in front of us. It’s like the old saying, “Worry looks around. Faith looks up.”
In any place of fear, we have two choices: worry or believe. You can’t do both. Either you believe in a greater power and have faith, or you don’t. If you don’t, then you keep the burden on yourself.
This is the ultimate act of ego because (and lets be honest here) we aren’t always strong enough to handle it. While I was in Moab, I also did some hiking. Any of you who have been off on a long day’s expedition know the exhausting nature of carrying a heavy backpack.
Thank goodness they put hip straps on backpacks—so you can rest the heaviest load on the strongest part. We should take a little wisdom from those backpacks and rest our heaviest worries on our strongest part—our sense of faith, hope, and a power greater than us.
So, the next time you get caught up in a cycle of worry remember: 1) name what’s not worrying you (what’s working), 2) name what’s worrying you, then 3) hand it over and look beyond. *
*Rev. Susan Sparks is pastor of Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York City. She is a native of North Carolina. Suzanne and I visited that Church in January, 2020.