Grammy Knows

10/13/2021

I spent a solid decade of my life calling my sweet Grammy to complain about everything under the sun everyday on my way home from work. My job, dating, my friends, my health. All of it. Trapped in a cycle of self-sabotaging sin with beer goggles on, certain that my issues were the cause of some vendetta the world had against me.

And this God-fearing woman had the audacity to listen to all the ways I was drowning and not even toss me an oar. Instead, she’d say something real churchy like “You need to just give it to God,” or “Try spending some time reading your Bible.” And in response I would silently scream at the phone in frustration. But I subconsciously must have seen something in her logic, because I kept coming back for more seemingly unhelpful tips.

A strong dose of conviction and a handful of years later, and here I am giving the same advice to others. “This isn’t your burden to carry,” “Have you tried Bible study?” The irony isn’t lost on me.

I find myself so wooed by God’s sovereignty and mercy that I almost forgot all the practical tools God gifted us to tread out of the whirlpool of worry, fear, and dissatisfaction that leaves me fixated on my problems. This year, as the turmoil of the world and the circumstances of life became unpredictable and out of my control, I’ve felt the water rise and the sand sifting out from under my feet. I’m so turned around that practices that were once second nature to my spiritual health seem tangled and uncoordinated as I desperately cling to them in hopes of shortening the span of my discomfort.

I’ve tried to slow my frantic grasping and get back to the basics. Here’s what I’ve found:

  • Giving your burdens to God isn’t a one-and-done thing. Sometimes it’s everyday, every hour, every minute that I have to choose to let God hold what is too heavy for me to bear. Just because the pain or anxiety is still there, doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong. You just need to keep laying it down again and again. A fisherman doesn’t cast his line once and quit because his first effort wasn’t fruitful. He doesn’t quit even if it IS fruitful. He keeps casting over and over until his day is done, and then he goes back out the next day and does it again.

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22

  • Every thought that is holding you down - interrupt it with Truth. I have a wild imagination. And not in a Disney fairytale kind of way. If I’m not careful of what I am allowing my mind to focus on, I will float away in a nightmare made up of my fears, past mistakes, and insecurities starring myself and anyone who has wronged me or could possibly wrong me in the future. In an attempt to train my mind to focus on Truth, I interrupt those thoughts with Scripture. I choose a Scripture I would like to memorize and drown out all the noise from my anxiety with the Word of God, over and over again all throughout the day.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8

  • Read your Bible. This one is broad because there are just so many amazing resources at our fingertips. What worked for me was going to friends who seemed to be doing well with Jesus-following and finding out what they’re doing that’s growing their relationship with God. Bible studies. Groups. Podcasts. Books. Reading plans. And just taking their advice and trying them with an open mind! The more time I spend with the same God who saved a man from a lion's den, gave sight to the blind, and brought prison walls down, the more trusting I am with Him handling my circumstances.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

As I find my footing and make it to solid ground again, God meets me with a fresh perspective of how much intentionality it takes to have a relationship with Him. It doesn’t happen by accident. I never want to make light of how difficult it can be to learn to surrender to God again. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Grammy really does know best.