I have a P31 devotion today and want to say hello and “welcome” if you found your way here through it! I’m so glad you stopped by!
I wish we could sit in a coffee shop and chat today.
I’d love to talk with you about things that are weighing you down or worries that are making you weary. They always seem to lighten when shared with a friend.
I’d tell you about the year I let my problems pile up and how all that pressure almost took me down. It’s all in chapter 9 of my book including the story about how I accidentally took my dogs medicine one morning.
In my devotion, I shared how God has been changing me and rearranging me. I also promised to share three steps to overcome worry and a practical way to physically give God your concerns! Since we can’t chat in a coffee shop today, I decided to share my heart in a short video post.
Message Notes: You can download my “Video Message Notes” in a PDF here or in a Word doc here. They include the points of my message, verses and blanks to fill in. {If you’d like to watch more FREE Confident Heart videos based on my book, click here.}
Let’s Connect & A Giveaway: I’d love to hear your thoughts and one thing you want to apply after reading today’s devotion and hearing the video message. Click “share your thoughts” right below this post and do just that. 🙂
Your comment enters you in today’s “Come to Me” stress-relief gift pack giveaway which ncludes a Bath & Body Works Eucalyptus Mint candle, God-iva Dark Chocolate and an Chamomile Lavender scented Anti-Stress Comfort Wrap that can be refrigerated or microwaved depending on your preference – my favorite home spa treatment!!
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Thank you. Just what I needed to hear today. I need to give my worries over to God and quit carrying them around like I’ve got all the answers.
Thank You Renee. I have been struggling with worry and have been praying, seeking, and thanking GOD for all he has done and but the devil brings the doubts back and I have to keep giving it back to GOD. I will do the cross and remember Calvary. It is nice to know their are other women going through this and I am not alone.
I am so glad I found this website today! May husband and I lost our jobs where we have been at the same ministry for 11 and 18 years respectively. In spite of the extensive hurt involved, I managed to do and say “the right things” at first knowing the feelings would catch up. Well, after 4 months, I am weary and find myself right in today’s devotion. I take everything to Him, lay out my concerns and then very neatly pick everything back up again. Thank you for the very practical encouragement today. I will begin to pray scripture today. That is something I can pick up and take with me.
Just read your P31 devotional . . . it was exactly where I am today and what I needed to hear/read. I often get overburdened with worry about what all I have to accomplish and let the worry take over.
Thank you for leading me back.
Thank you so much for your ministry! I have read this scripture numerous times, but haven’t broken it down to 3 steps nor have I considered how the enemy tells us to do the complete opposite of what God says, stop worrying, start praying, keep thanking God. May the Lord continue to minister through your amazing words! God bless you & your family!
This was just too perfect for me today. Just last night I was asking God if things were ever going to start to get better for me. I don’t know if the will, but this reminds me that I need to trust God, that He has good things stored up for me. I will be OK if I can just place my life in His hands!
That devotion, especially the choice of Scriptures really touched me today. My daughter’s very abusive father has reappeared after 11 years and he is suing me for joint custody and visitation. At first, I completely fell apart as I began to relive terrible memories. I could barely get out of bed for the first few days as I allowed fear to consume me. I am in my last online class before I finish my degree, I have a family to care for, I teach Sunday School, and I am in the middle of a move to another state to attend grad school. I begged God to stop this, but He reminded me that even faithful Christians (in the Bible it would be ‘especially) suffer. He has been reminding me daily to trust in His protection and stop worrying. Like this morning’s devotional said, I should cast my burdens upon Him. That is what enables a Christian to be a living witness to others while in the midst of something unpleasant. I am realizing that I need to get better at trials and in order to have a New Testament kind of faith, I need to grow in my faith through trials as I learn to lean on Him more and trust Him more. The enemy wants us to worry and be fearful because we stop walking forward and we lose effectiveness when we are consumed with them. The Lord who loves us wants us to trust Him and wants to give us His peace and rest.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for putting this on Ms. Renee’s heart and having it for the devotion today!! Thank you, Ms. Renee, for the reminder that it is the devil that encourages out doubt that God can take care of everything when I give it to Him and leave it there.
Hello Renee,
Thank you for your words of wisdom. I am going through so much distress in my life. I am past the worry stage and to the “I just want to end it all.” I know that this is not the answer and God is keeping me from making this choice. I know he is the answer. I also know that he can turn “something bad into good.” But after a year of bad I am so weary. Please pray for me and ask God to give me and my family direction and guidance. It is so hard to know what to do when God is silent.
Thank you for your ministry.
Hi Pam,
Just reading through the posts and saw yours. Thanks so much for your honesty. I understand how you feel and have felt the same at various times in my life. Please know that God loves you and you are exactly where you need to be. He ordained all the days of your life before you were born. No matter how bad it seems to get, He promised He would never leave you nor forsake you. He loves you and He is working it out for your good! I’m praying for you and your family as well as many others I am sure who are you reading your post.
Thanks so much Renee for the wonderful post. It is a very “on-time” word!
Thank you =)
I am thankful for your insights and encouragement! I am trying to work out of a cycle of worry consuming me & effecting my attitude.
My precious mom had me memorize Phil. 4:6-8 as a child. Those are still my favorite verses!
I am trying to be more intentional about following Phil. 4:8, and fix my thoughts on
What is true, good, and right and to think about all I can praise God for and
be glad about!
Today’s post was right on time.At times I feel overwhelmed with the things I have to do.Trying to continue school at my age(43),with the lost of my job recently and having to search for another,trying to be the one in the family thats looking out for everyone else.I don’t see how I’m still able to function.But you reminded me how faithful our God is,and He is waiting on me to just give it all to Him.And I loved the idea about writing down the cares on post cards,that helped a lot.Thank you so much for your encouragement. God bless you!
This is a perfect message for me. Worry and concern because I feel out of control have consumed me recently. I find myself grasping at anything to help me feel like I am worth what God has promised is mine. I feel like I don’t deserve his Grace or his Peace, and the fact that He gives it anyway makes me feel guilty. I recently returned to my Husband of 15 years after choosing to give up on our marriage. He was graceful enough to welcome me back. Now I am striuggling to allow him to forgive me. I have struggled with alcohol and tobacco abuse, and worry that I won’t have the strength to overcome these addictions. I worry that my faith that God can do anything will not be strong enough to overcome my total lack of faith in myself. I recently lost my job and have chosen to use this as a positive force. I am devoting my time to seek God, and be the wife, mother, daughter and sister that he can be proud of. It is overwhelming everyday, but I am committed to tell him out loud everyday that I am struggling, scared and tired. I will also thank him for loving me and believing in me and for walking before me and with me through this.
In 1984, suicidal from a physically abusive husband, I finally escaped the horror. Terrified from fear of him bursting in to my new-found life, I fell to my knees with Bible in hand and prayed “Father, please lead me in Your Word, specifically. Give me peace and some rest before I leave this life. I opened my Bible, and I have no doubt, God guided my fingers and my heart to Matthew 11:28. It has been my “Life Verse” from that day forward. I was so amazed how He worked a miracle that night, and I have had many, many since. Life is stil full of struggles, but I am reminded constantly of “Come to Me all who are weary and I will give you rest”… and of God’s hope and grace and mercy. Thank you for this rich reading today, Renee. You are a blessing, along with all of the women of Proverbs 31. Thanks be to God.
What a praise, Judy!! Blessings to you today.
Oh My!! This was just what I needed to hear today. I fought with my husband last night over all I have to do before we go on vacation – my husband pointed out we don’t leave until the very end of July and he couldn’t believe my schedule was so packed that I couldn’t get things done before then. Of course that irritated me, but I know it shouldn’t have, he was right. I’m just concerned about the fact that we are going on vacation so close to the beginning of the school year and how that is going to impact everything that needs to get done.
I am currently trying to do your “Confident Heart” study. I can’t seem to find the time to do it, but now I realize that it is probably my thoughts of not having the time to do everything holding me back.
Thank you Renee for all you do to bring God’s message to the world! You are such a blessing!!!
Linda
Thank you for this, Renee. I’m really having a rough year with my daughter having development delays in speech. My worry and anxiety have been terrible and I keep giving it all to God. I like the concern card card and cross idea! I’m so thankful for our loving Father who cares so much.
I am so glad that I found you through Proverbs 31 Ministries. The way you relate scripture to daily life is so helpful. Worry is my number one problem, and your words and suggestions will definitely help me to work on worrying less and trusting God more.
I just watched your video. It came at just the right time. My twin boys are graduating from high school today and then college orientation is just a few days away. Working full time and trying to make sure that my family–including my husband–is where they need to be with all the proper documentation, is definitely making me weary. I am going to try talking to God more about all my thoughts and see if some peace comes my way! Thank you so much for your insight.
I needed this today, thank you for sharing. God always seems to answer my prayers for clarification where I least expect it.
Your post today really hit home. My husband and I don’t always see eye to eye on what I have on my to do list. He doesn’t go to church. I have church obligations, bringing up our two sons to go to church. I also need time for me. My thoughts cut back where?
I am the ultimate worrier, struggling my whole life to NOT try to take control and “fix” every situation – for my kids, my spouse, my friends. I hear what you are saying, and it makes total and complete sense, yet I still have such a hard time trusting that God will indeed take care of everything. I love the idea of writing down my worries and physically giving them to Jesus. I am going to pray, pray, pray for God’s help in giving him my cares, and I am going to write them all down and give them over. Thank you for sharing – it’s so good to hear I am not the only one who is struggling with this 🙂