Sweatin' the Small Stuff

I have this horrible problem of constantly misplacing my wallet which leads me to panic a little inside because my thinking is that I lost my wallet and now someone can take my identity. Even as I typed that last sentence my chest sank in fear and I padded the right side of my butt just to check if I still had my wallet on me.

Whenever I misplace my wallet I tend to be a little dramatic. You could probably never tell on the outside but on the inside I AM FREAKING OUT. My mind and heart start racing and I think of all the horrible (sometimes unrealistic) possibilities of what could happen if the wrong person grabbed a hold of my wallet. When I am in the midst of my freak out I become irritable, I become short with people, and am not as nice as I know I could be to people who try to help me. I become unpleasant.

Its been about a year now since my last freak out. That's because God humbled me.

Right before I was about to leave the house I was doing my regular mental check list of the things I needed for work. (Phone? Check. Keys? Check. Wallet? . . . panic.) Inside of my wallet was the key that I needed to open up the place I was working at. Without my wallet we couldn't open up the store and I had maybe just ten minutes to find my wallet so I could open up the store on time.

I started flipping couch cushions, unfolding blankets, moving couches, and questioning everyone in the house about where my wallet was last seen. I tried to retrace my steps in my mind but I couldn't even remember if I had it on me last night. My wallet was nowhere to be found and I had no clue about where it could be.

That's when I calmed myself down and started praying.

I began to say to God, "I am sorry about my actions, Father. You know my need, Lord. I need to find my wallet but I am going to give you all of my anxieties, Lord . . ." As I was praying I was walking to my room one last time.  I placed my hands on the edge of the bed and began to kneel. On my way down to my knees I felt something under the mangled blankets I was throwing around on my bed. I lifted my blanket and there she was!

Even though my anxiety was blinding me from seeing my wallet right in front of me God made it clear to me that all my worrying was for nothing. My anxiety was foolish. I should not be sweating the small stuff.

Here are some verses on casting our anxieties on our Father:

Philippians 4:5-6
1 Peter 5:7
Matthew 6:27
Matthew 6:31-33
Lamentations 3:23