No worries. Yeah, right.

I’m not much of a worrywart. Or so I thought.

I co-lead a small group for middle school girls on Monday nights. I don’t prepare the lesson, so I’m not sure I should be called a leader. Mostly, I’m there to be another adult presence in the room and to build relationships with the students in our youth group.

The true leader of the group prepared a lesson on worry for the girls. She encouraged them to journal a list of things they’re prone to worry about. Turning open our Bibles, we read passages that speak directly to the subject. Her definition of worry went beyond the notions of anxiety or fear. She expanded it to ‘taking responsibilty for something we’re not meant to be in charge of.’ 

That pulled me up short.

While I don’t normally consider myself prone to worry or anxiety, I most certainly try to take responsibility for things God never placed in my purview:

• Attempting to assure the success of a ministry event through planning. The planning itself isn’t so much of a problem (Proverbs assures us of that)… it’s the underlying false belief that if I plan well, the event is certain to be a success. (Plus, how does one define ‘success’ in the sphere of ministry? It can’t exclusively be numbers or dollars or rave reviews.)
• Salvation and abundant Christian life for my children. Oh, to be sure, I’ll nod wildly in agreement with the notion that a child’s decision for Christ, and their connectedness to the Holy Spirit, belongs to them not the parent. Yet this is something I desire so profoundly for each of my own kids that I unconsciously tip into believing that if I just do all the right “Christian parent” things, they’ll lay hold of their Savior in ever-deeper ways.
• Provision for the needs of our family. I’m not the primary bread-winner in our household. (Not sure I could even qualify as a crouton-winner.) My husband works in the high tech sector and has seen his fair share of start-ups, shut-downs, work force reductions and the like. Without a second income, his paycheck obviously matters to us. In seasons of uncertainty, I’m quick to red-line his résumé and start stalking Monster.com to ‘help’ secure a new job.

The paradigm shift in the definition prompted me to realize that I actually worry more than I think I do and that the things I can’t control were never mine to control anyway.

They are Someone Else’s to tend to.

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
—Proverbs 19:21 ESV