Chapter 5 of the Book Winning the War on Worry by Louie Giglio

 "Do you believe God loves you?"

Pastor Louie Giglio asks this questions on page 68 in chapter 5 of his book on Winning the War on Worry. This chapter talks about how the power of God's perfect love for us is the key to winning this war. The problem is...do we believe God loves us?

Is there a person in your life you truly love? Not just because of what they do for you...not just when they behave well or perform to your satisfaction...a person you truly love despite all of that. The closest to this kind of love I have experienced is the love I feel for my sons. They can't do much for me. They don't always behave well. The rarely ever perform to my satisfaction (shhhhhh...don't tell them I said this. I'd deny, deny, deny!!). But it's true. They are great kids, but they are not perfect and they do disappoint me TONS...but I'd die for them. The depth of my love for them goes deeper than I ever knew it was possible. But I still want to punch them on the face often. Pastor Giglio tells us to ponder our very imperfect love that we feel for our beloved and realize that it is nothing compared to the love God has for us.

The only reason we know how to love in our imperfect ways is because He first loved us (John 4: 19). He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us. What kind of a love is that? It is incomprehensibly perfect love. It goes beyond everything we can imagine. And that kind of love is the one He has for us. Therefore, we have nothing to worry about! If we who are weak and imperfect are able to keep our children safe for the most part...how much safer is God able to keep us? Like Pastor Giglio said on page 66: "If God already gave you His best, He has no reason to withhold the rest." If God has already given me Jesus and the Holy Spirit, why should I worry that He might not take care of me? It's absurd, when you look at it this way, isn't it?

The depth of God's love moved Him to send Himself in the person of Jesus to be our Savior and in the person of the Holy Spirit to live inside of us until He calls us home. Why should I be afraid? If He has already done all these, why would He deny us to help us overcome fear and worry? Yes, we still live in a broken world and the enemy is still prowling like a hungry lion seeking to devour us. Therefore, we must still stay on guard, but we are covered by the most perfect love that ever existed, so, regardless of the reality of the struggles we face, we have already won! So why worry?! And the greatest news is: nothing can ever separate us from His love! (Romans 8: 31-39)

No matter what we do or don't do, He "absolutely and unequivocally" loves us no matter what! And if we believe this truth in our hearts and minds, we have the greatest and only weapon we will ever need to put a dagger through the heart of worry. (68)

So, let's make sure we meditate on this essential truth: God does love us with an everlasting love. Once we get that tattooed into our brains, the enemy would have no power over us.

May we respond with humility and awe to the great power of God's love. He has done what we could never do, so we worship Him. He is the Only One worthy of all our worship and praise and affection. Reveal Your perfect love to us as we move away from worry and break our chains of fear, Lord. In the Precious Name of Jesus, the One Who Breaks every chain, even mine! Amen!

Chapter 4 of the Book Winning the War on Worry by Louie Giglio

 I love disaster movies. I just enjoy watching them because they usually contain great examples of human ingenuity and resourcefulness. God's marvelous design comes in full display when we are pressed from every side as our brain goes on full alert mode and fires up options to consider when in mortal danger...well...some people's brain, at least. My brain goes straight to panic. So I'm afraid if you are stuck with me in a dangerous situation, you're going to have to be the one with the impressive display of brain power, because me...I'm going to be hysterically and blindly screaming my lungs out, paralyzed in fear, curled into a ball. 

Anyway, that's another reason I like watching disaster movies, because I'm hoping to learn something useful. Like, for example, I love to watch and re-watch the movie San Andreas, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Yes, I also enjoy watching that movie because of The Rock, I know, you got me. BUT, my favorite part is when the earth starts shaking again, and The Rock moves all the people to lean against the side wall of the stadium. Once the earthquake stops, everyone is safe even though there was much collapsing of structures, then the one person asks him, how did he know what to do. The Rock's character, who is an emergency helicopter pilot replied something like, "you find something sturdy to lean against and brace yourself." 

Well, chapter 4 of the book Winning the War on Worry by Pastor Louie Giglio talks about how it is key to invite God into our worry. To illustrate this, Pastor Giglio quotes Philippians 4:6, Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. This is a command, but beyond that, it is a guide to handling worry. I know, hearing the first part is like, "sure...do not be anxious...do not worry...yeah...that'll happen." But if we keep reading, it tells us what to do instead or when we feel the sting of fear and worry on the back of our spine: PRAY! And what is prayer? It is our invitation to God to be a part of our lives, good and bad and ugly. 

The best part is the result of this invitation: PEACE! 

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 7

What a blessing! Countering worry with prayer results in a peace so amazing that it is incomprehensible. And this peace is promised if we abide/dwell in Our Great God. If we disconnect from our distractions and remain close to the vine that is Jesus, turning our attention to Him in prayer, worry turns into peace like water turned into wine by the sole presence of Our Lord in the room. 

A practical and effective way that Pastor Giglio offers in his book to staying connected to Jesus especially in our times of worry and fear, is a simple breathing exercise. He tells us to exhale/breathe out a lie caused by worry, whatever it is, and inhale/breathe in an affirmation or a promise of God. For example, he says, we can exhale, "I am alone." And then, we can inhale, "God is with me always." We can customize this to fit our situation and try it whenever the cold shivers of fear start creeping up and down our soul. It is a good way to refocus our attention on the One Who Calms the Storm as supposed to keeping it on the waves and the winds. It is a way to remember that God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46: 1). It is how we find our "sturdy" place when the earth begins to move.

As I walk through valleys filled with the darkness of worry and fear, I will try to remember the triangle of life, Our Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the sturdiest place ever available for us to lean against in our times of earthquakes and storms. 

Thank you, Lord for reminding us that You are bigger than anything that afflicts us in this world. You have overcome, and so shall we by Your grace, presence and strength. In The Precious Name of Jesus, we pray. Amen!

Chapter 3 of the Book Winning the War on Worry

 I cannot believe that it has been almost 3 months since the last time I posted anything. It has been an eventful summer, both good and not-so-good. I've enjoyed many blessings but I have also been immersed in deep worry. And today, as I was, once again, falling into the trap that fear sets in front of me every time, I remembered...All things are possible with God! (Matthew 19: 26) ... even winning the war on worry.

So let me pick up where I left off: the beginning of chapter 3.

Author and Pastor, Louie Giglio reminds us in this chapter how control and fear are at the root of worry. I think, the fear of losing control is significant here as well. If you think about it, we just like life to go the way we plan it. And when it doesn't, or when it seems like it won't...we begin to worry because we fear the unknown. Unknown means out of our control...therefore, we worry.

I am not a big planner. I know it is hard to believe, but I do not spend countless hours scheduling the minutia or even the big things of life. I'm too lazy for that. I do plan, don't get me wrong, but I have seen what real, hard-core planners are like...and I am NOT one of them. Dylan is. He is obsessed with detailed planning. For example, when we go on vacation, he plans every single outfit he will wear every single day. One time I had to yell at him for using all my gallon-size Ziplock bags to organize his daily get ups. I was sooooo mad when I went to look for ONE and there were NONE left in a box I had recently purchased. Me on the other hand, I throw in my suitcase a bunch of pieces that I know go together and hope when I'm there, I can concoct a few basic outfits that look presentable and comfortable (while making sure there is a washing/dryer combo at the place where we're staying at, 'cause I tend to under pack).

Anyway...Dylan gets terribly upset when plans change. Back to traveling, he makes me repeat over and over and over again what we have planned to do at the place we're visiting, until he memorizes it. I even have to tell him when we have planned, nothing...so he can mark it as "free time" in his mental calendar. The year we took him to Guatemala, we were not in control of the itinerary so a couple of months in advance I had to start the conversations with him about the need for him to grasp the concept of "going with the flow." I thought it was super ironic that I was the one promoting the idea of "going with the flow" when I am notoriously the least "flowy" person anyone around me has ever met (I am just filled with contradictions).

At any rate, Pastor Giglio says that we are called to be good stewards, which in turn means, we are supposed to plan. Good stewardship/planning, however, does not need to include a microscopic analysis of every "what if" scenario that could possibly happen in the future. We consider some of them, perhaps the most obvious, and we let the rest go to God's hands, where ultimately every plan must reside. He mentions how getting stuck on the "what ifs" will actually paralyze us with fear because we realize how ill-equipped we are to deal with all of them...therefore, we get "stuck on a stream of worry." (35)

Giglio says:

It's not wrong to admit that the occasional "what if" can be helpful...every so often when you're building a plan, you need to look ahead. But you can't live there. You can't fixate so much on the ideas of tomorrow that you cease living in the realities of today. Not only is detrimental to your spiritual health, but psychology and sociology have proven that it's actually a large waste of time and effort...because most of the "what ifs" that we project and dwell on don't ever happen." (35) Later he continues, "planning well and steering clear from worry means that we embrace the mentality of I'll cross that bridge when I get to it." (37) He adds, "planning focuses on the present and on what is in your hands, while occasionally looking ahead to factor in what is to come. Worry fixates on the future, while occasionally circling back to work on what is currently in front of you." (34)

And that's why worry gets me, not because I am a frantic planner who needs to schedule even her visits to the "el baño," but because the toxicity of worry gets to me due to the fact that I keep looking at the future, crossing bridges ahead of time, fixating on the fact that I won't be able to handle the eventualities and the realized "what ifs" because I'm not strong enough (or even because I haven't planned accordingly). I believe the lie that says we are alone in the storm...so when it hits...I KNOW I'm going to perish for sure because I know I am not strong enough.

The truth is, we ARE NOT ALONE. 

We do not have to face the storm all on our own.

We don't have to rely only on our puny strength.

God, the Lord Almighty is with us always. (Isaiah 41: 10) and so is Jesus (Matthew 28: 20). Not only He controls the storm (Mark 4: 39) but He speaks to us out of it (Job 38: 1)...and even though with man things are not all possible, NOTHING is impossible with God, (Matthew 19: 26). And He also doesn't give us more than we can handle. Pastor Giglio points out beautifully how this is present in the parable of the talents, when in Matthew 25: 15 Jesus says, "to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability." How did I miss that last part? I can't believe I never truly saw that last phrase, "to each according to his own ability." I just love the Word of God and how it becomes new every day.

He also sends His angels to guard us (Psalm 91: 11-12)...and I don't just mean the celestial beings...I mean, God puts people in our lives to do His work in us as well. He sends His every-day-angels to minister to us and to walk with us and to lift us up...

Pastor Giglio's closing words in this chapter are most powerful:

"God puts things into your hands according to your ability and His power to work in and through you. If He's entrusted it to you, you can carry it. If He's calling you to it, He will be faithful and help you through it." (38) Even if we mess up and believe we are failing...He who began a good work in us will see it to completion. (Philippians 1: 6)

God is Good and Merciful...so I know that whether we want to plan every detail to make sure we have fashionable outfits for every occasion, or just want to make every day an adventure, He's got us covered and His patience is limitless. All we have to do is remember to place all our plans, tight or loose, at the feet of the Cross and trust He takes care of us.

PRAYER:

Father, I bring to You the things I am concerned about. Help me make wise choices to bring about the best outcomes in every situation. Give me the grace to place what I cannot control into Your hands with confidence and peace. In the Precious Name of Jesus! Amen!