Anxiety and Mushrooms

For years, God’s voice in my head mimicked that of my mother Peggy urging me to try harder, perform better, attain more. Don’t you see?  You’re not quite good enough.

So when my friend, Sally, gave me a copy of the daily devotional called Jesus Calling, it was a spiritual game changer. It turns out that God does not want my performance-based rituals; and it turns out that in His eyes I am good enough.  Always.  Even bride-like.  And God actually wants to be with me.  In conversation…moment by moment.

Ms. Young seems aware that many of us struggle with anxiety.  Today her devotional was based on Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount found in Luke 12:22-26 as well as on Ephesians 3:20-21 where Paul talks about God’s doing “immeasurably more” than we ask or imagine.

Anxiety is the result of envisioning the future without me. So the best defense against worry is staying in communication with Me. 

If you must consider upcoming events, follow these rules. 1) Do not linger in the future, because anxieties sprout up like mushrooms when you wander there. 2) Remember that promise of My continual Presence; include Me in any imagery that comes to mind.  This mental discipline does not come easily, because you are accustomed to being god of your fantasies.  However, the reality of My presence with you now and forevermore, outshines any fantasy you could ever imagine.

What’s in your mushroom patch?  Is it a health issue?  Is it gravesite grief beyond your ability to cope?  Or is it more of a vague, pervasive anxiety which robs your joy and your ability to focus on others?

God’s voice is not the fantasy creation of Peggy with a side of performance-pride — God’s  voice speaks Love, Presence, Affirmation.

And a call to pluck out sprouting mushrooms.