She Lives Encouraged

I love L.A.! And I am a Dodger fan. Yup, my whole entire life. And I married Tim who is a Dodger fan and we are raising 3 Dodger fans too! I have grown up listening to Vin Scully’s voice announcing the games on the TV and radio.  As a child, my family would visit my grandparents house and spend wonderful times together. We would visit them in East Los Angeles, and on a summer evening my siblings and cousins would play outside while Grandpa would sit on his porch with his little radio listening to Vin Scully.

As you might know, or not, this is Vin Scully’s last year announcing the Dodger games.  Needless to say, it’s a very sentimental year, for Los Angeles, to listen to his voice because the time is coming when we will no longer hear it.  He is one of the most genuine and kindest men I ever met.  It was our 2nd year wedding anniversary and we celebrated in the Dodger Club Restaurant. At the end of the game, as we were walking out of the restaurant, Vin Scully walked over to us (Yes! He walked to us!) and asked how we were doing . We told him it was our anniversary and immediately he was calling the closest security guards to take pictures of us with him…telling my husband “‘Tim, you gotta take pictures with your bride'”, while inside I’m screaming to myself, “Oh my gosh!!! It’s Vin Scully!!! Live and in person!!!! His voice!!!” And as he was talking to us, it was amazing how his voice is absolutely naturally “surround sound”.  He talked with us for a while and then it was time to go.  And as he drove out of his parking spot, he flashed his high-beams at us and honked as we waved goodbye to each other. I know. Quite a jaw dropping moment in our lives (look how BIG my eyes were from excitement!!)

Just recently, Vin Scully received the Lifetime Achievement Award. I saw his interview on the news that night as they were congratulating him and he was asked a question: “Vin, how are you feeling about what you will be doing after the season is over?”  His answer surprised me: “I have a little anxiety and worry about: what is next? what will I do?” And he continued his answer with how he is blessed to spend more time with his lovely wife.

Worry. Ugh. Who hasn’t worried? We all have worried. And we have all asked the same questions as Vin Scully through our different circumstances: “What is next?”, “What will I do?”, “What will happen?” and quickly following are the “what if’s”.  Believe me, I have been there.

2010 was one of the toughest years of my life. It began with a dear friend being murdered in Mexico. One month later, my uncle passed away.  At that time, I started working after being a stay at home mom for 8 years; and it took months of applying and interviewing to acquire employment. One month later, my grandmother passed away. One month later, my husband lost his job. One month later, our dear friend committed suicide. One month later, I was laid off of work. And later that year, another dear friend passed away suddenly. A very tough year.

When my husband first told me he had lost his job. I was calm. I was cool. I was strong. I told him not to worry because we are going to be okay.  Yes, I was being encouraging.  But two months later, we were both unemployed. I was no longer calm. No longer cool. Now, it was all settling in even more. To be honest, I had been worrying already, but at this time I went full throttle! I became Queen of Worryland! “How are we going to pay the bills? How will we feed our family? What if we lose the house? What if… and what if…?” It was definitely a year of growing as it was a year of learning not to worry.

One day, I was sitting at the table of our dining room. Quiet time. Sitting. Thinking. Praying. Then, my daughter who was 4-years-old at the time, walked away from playing in her room, came to me and said in her little tiny voice, “Mommy, if you worry then you think God can’t handle it.” She walked away back to playing in her room. Another jaw-dropping moment!

To be told “don’t worry” is easier said than done. There are songs about not worrying such as “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”, “Hakuna Matata”, or my personal and family’s favorite by Bob Marley – “Three Little Birds”.

“Don’t worry about a thing, cause every little thing…gonna be alright” –Bob Marley, Three Little Birds

Well, Bob Marley is right, but God’s word is better and He always keeps His promises and He never fails.  The Lord tells us not to worry: plain and simple (yes, simple). But He doesn’t just tell us just “don’t worry”:

• He gives us reasons why not to worry (Matthew 6:25-33)
• He tells how not to worry (Philipians 4:6, 8)
• He gives us His promises if we don’t worry (Phil 4:7)

So why shouldn’t we worry? Because He has it all under control.  Because you are SO VALUABLE to Him. He created you. He loves you. He died for you. He has plans for you. In the book of Matthew, Jesus is telling us not to worry and I love how He asks in Matthew 6:26 – “Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to Him than they are?” (nlt) The answer to that question is YES!! Absolutely YES! He takes care of those little sparrows and hummingbirds outside our windows and all the other birds…where they will nest, provides all their food, shelters them day and night. He is so involved with their little tiny lives, then we should have no doubt that He is involved with ours and much more because we are so much more valuable to Him.

Now hold on, it keeps getting better. So now that we’re clear about how the Lord sees us having so much value. He continues in verse 27 “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” (nlt) The answer to that question is NO!! Absolutely not! Worrying does us no good to our health, to our mind, to our circumstances…worry doesn’t change a thing that we’re going through. It’s just no good for us. Trust me, I had to learn this…it didn’t come naturally and I needed a tough-love talk from the Lord from these verses.

So, in all our worries, we need a little help on how not to worry. Take a look at Philippians 4:6 – “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all He has done.” (nlt) The first thing is to simply not worry…put a stop to it. Stop our worrying and start praying. We need to pray about…EVERYTHING. Pour your heart out to the Lord, tell Him all your worries and let Him know  and request what you need. He’s listening. He’s waiting to hear from you. And after you tell Him your needs, thank Him for all He has done. Let me ask you: What has He done for you? How has He pulled through for you? What has He given you? How has He shown His love for you? We have so much to be thankful for.

In the book of Deuteronomy, God tells the Israelites to always remember all He did for them in taking them out of Egypt, out of slavery…one of the toughest times in their lives. This instruction is for you and me too. We need to remember what He has done for us in the past. Remember what and how He has brought you through your tough times because when you’re going through the fire, you have to look back and remember what He has done to remind you that He will pull you through again. He is faithful!

Now here comes one of God’s promises if we follow the above. Philippians 4:7 reads – “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” I love it!! I hope you do too!  It is amazing what happens when we take our mind off our troubles and worries, when we stop dwelling on them and start to continually pray to the Lord about everything.  Only the Lord can give us His peace during the toughest times…a peace that we don’t understand, especially when we should naturally feel stressed out. It’s God’s peace that will guard your heart and your mind. The worries and anxieties go away because of His peace. His peace will guard you from more worry. His peace will guard you from more stress. His peace. Perfect peace.

In addition to that, He gives us ways to get our mind off the things that are troubling us: Philippians 4:8 – “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” (nlt)  Here is something practical for us to do. Now this is a little list that you can start working on. Get a piece of paper and pen or write a list on your smartphone.  Make each of these a category: True, Honorable, Right, Pure, Lovely, Admirable and make a list under each of these. For example, my category of “What is True”: God loves me, God cares for me, my husband loves me, dark chocolate is good for me…okay, you get the picture. But, yes, even the small practical things. And continue to “think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Get distracted from your worrying with God’s love. Get distracted with God’s word. Get distracted with getting together with some friends…pray together, support each other and talk about things full of excellence and praise.

2010 was full of worry and heartache. But when I look back and remember all that God did to get us through it – we didn’t lose our house, all our bills were paid, we had plenty of food to eat, provided a new job for me (and it was a promotion!), provided a new job for my husband, comfort thru family and friends with the loss of dear loved ones – all of this and more is proof that He will get me through anything.

You see, all we’re asked to do is not worry. And we have some practicing to do.  The Lord is right there with us every step of the way…reminding us each time: “Don’t worry. I’ve got this. Trust Me, I can handle it. Everything is gonna be alright.” My friend, let me encourage you that He is absolutely right…He hasn’t failed us yet and He never will.

 

(Please take a moment to encourage each other here and leave a comment: How did the Lord get you through your time of worry? What scripture helps you through your worry and tough times? What are things you do to get your mind off of your worries? What do you look back on and remember what God did to stop your worrying?)