When You Can’t Sleep for Worry

Reflections from a young woman with five children listening to the Sermon on the Mount.

. . . It was hard to concentrate and listen to Jesus. My mind was full of worries. There was never enough food. Having enough for today, let alone tomorrow, was always gnawing inside me. I worried. I had trouble sleeping. Getting to sleep, then waking up early.

Which seed are you?

Hear and welcome. That’s what the people of the good ground do, those seeds that fell, grew, bloom and spread.

So, how do we hear and welcome God’s call on our lives? And God’s word in our lives?

Part of the answer is found in Jesus’ patient explanation of this parable to his disciples, about what happened to the other seeds that were sown.

Read More worry, seeds, roots, distraction, ambition

Right Priorities

Oh, how quickly we let worries define us and take charge of our lives! Even as I write, savvy online advertisers raise the alarm about the state of my wrinkles, relationships and waistline. I am encouraged to fixate on food and be consumed with my career.

Worry gravitates towards the trivial, distorting our priorities. Rather than examining the state of our souls before God, we concern ourselves with how we look to other people.

Considering Beauty

In our anxious moments, we clothe ourselves with worry and spread a feast of fear before us. Our thoughts circle and chase us just as we run to secure them. When we are most desperate to feel in control of our lives we are most prone to set a trap for ourselves.

In times of wandering God urged the Israelites to record, remember and recite the works of his hand to strengthen their faith.

A Simple Choice

I sat in my car and cried out to God. I was about to walk into a grade four classroom and was supposed to teach them about Jesus, but my heart wasn’t in it. In fact my heart was very far from being able to do it. I had just spent a sleepless night worrying about a situation in our family. The circumstances were dire and I saw no solution in sight.