“Today is mine. Tomorrow is none of my business. If I peer anxiously into the fog of the future I will strain my spiritual eyes so that I will not see clearly what is required of me now!”
Elisabeth Elliot
2023 was a year for the books for me! I had the most growth that I’ve ever had in life up to this point, and experienced so much that it’s hard to believe that it all happened within the same year!
God allowed me to have dreams, He took me to places I never dreamed I’d go, introduced me to friends I didn’t know I needed, taught me how to be myself, and pushed me far outside my comfort zone.
Through all of those experiences, God taught me these 12 lessons:
- Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).
- God’s grace is sufficient for me (2 Corinthians 12:9).
- I truly am forgiven by God (1 John 1:9)!
- Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything (Philippians 4:6-7)!
- Gratitude is an important key to overcoming anxiety (Philippians 4:6-7).
- Don’t worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34).
- How to listen for and to the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; John 16:13).
- Trust in the Lord and He will direct my steps (Proverbs 4:5-6).
- Confidence comes from God, so be bold—this I’m still learning (Hebrews 4:14-16).
- Jesus loves me even when I mess up because the darkness is as light to Him (Psalm 139:12; John 1:5)!
- Finding joy in the mundane (Philippians 4:4).
- Change is okay and good, even when it’s hard to accept (Isaiah 43:18-19).
- Even when everything changes, the Lord never changes (Hebrews 13:8).
The biggest lesson that I learned from the Lord in 2023 was how to let go of fears, worries, and anxieties; and that trusting Him in everything is so much better than worrying about everything. It makes life so much more enjoyable too!
Now, before I go on, I have to be honest. Even though God taught me why it’s important to trust Him and how to let go of my worries, I still struggle every single day. Some days it’s easy for me to trust Him. Other days it’s so extremely hard! So every day I have to make a choice and say a prayer, asking God to give me the strength to trust Him that day. Even on the days that I forget, I still have to remind myself that God loves me and His grace is still sufficient for me.
So why do you and I need to trust God with our fears and anxieties? And how do we even do that?
In the Gospel of Matthew, during His famous Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus tells us this:
25 “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith? 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles [unbelievers] eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:25-34 (CSB)
Jesus always does and always will supply our daily needs. He provides daily for the flowers and the birds, so why wouldn’t He also provide for us in even more ways? I mean He created us in His own image!
Even when we know this to be true, it can still be difficult to internalize and believe at times. As I explained before, I have to remind myself daily that Jesus will provide all of my needs. I have to pray to Him each morning to give me the strength to trust that He truly will provide.
As Jesus says here in Matthew, we need to daily seek His kingdom. We need to daily pray and ask God how He wants us to serve Him this day. When we focus on serving our Lord and King, we worry less about our immediate needs.When we obediently serve Him, God is pleased and desires to bless us! And He does this by providing for our everyday needs.
So don’t worry about anything. Pray to God about everything! Tell Him what you need, but don’t forget to thank Him for His abundant blessings (Philippians 4:6-7). Thank Him for the simple blessings of everyday life. When you practice thanking God, the cares of this life will begin to fade away, or at least seem less pressing. You won’t worry so much about the little things because you will be so focused on serving the King of Kings and the blessings that He is giving you!
But, does this sound too good to be true?
Sometimes I think it does.
But then I remember the beautiful way that I experienced the truth of trading worry for gratitude this past summer working at a Christian camp.
As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog post, the theme of our summer was No Worries, inspired by Philippians 4:6-7:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (NIV).”
I spend 8-10 weeks hearing this truth time and time again! We had speaker after speaker come and tell us how we could replace our anxieties with thankfulness. One of those speakers in particular gave us a gratitude challenge that not only changed the rest of my day and week, but it changed the rest of my summer!
That challenge was this: “at the top of every hour, pause and share three things that you are grateful for over the last hour. Share it with whoever is around you, or with God in prayer.”
The speaker gave us this challenge in the morning and we all did our best to practice it throughout the day. That night, during our evening chapel, the speaker asked us all—campers and staff members alike—how practicing gratitude impacted our day.
The results were amazing! The campers, who were middle schoolers (ages 12-14), gave glowing responses. So many of them happily shared how much less anxious and more at peace they felt than just the day before!
Both the campers and us staff members were so impacted by this challenge, that we continued to do it the best that we could for the rest of the week (and the rest of the summer)! My campers would even remind me that we needed to share what we all were grateful for if I ever forgot about pausing for it!
Each day that I took time to practice this gratitude challenge, I felt so much more at peace. My problems didn’t seem as big as they had before, I had more patience, and I was able to trust God to provide better than I ever have before!
This gratitude challenge is something that I have been wanting to continue practicing since leaving camp, but I have to admit, it has not been easy to remember it. If you (like me) are ready to let your anxiety stay in 2023, then I encourage you to take up this gratitude challenge.
“At the top of every hour, pause and share three things that you are grateful for over the last hour. Share it with whoever is around you, or with God in prayer.”
Let’s start this new year by practicing gratitude together. Let’s make 2024 the year that we all learn to trust God a little more than before.
The Lord taught and grew me a lot in 2023. The greatest lesson He gave me was to let go of my fears and worries and lean into His blessings and guidance.
Let’s make 2024 the year that we worry less, practice gratitude more, and take small steps each day to be bold and trust that the Lord will provide our every need.
“I [the Lord] will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”
Psalm 32:8 (NIV)
Additional resources:
Eternally Planted 