{"id":15506,"date":"2026-10-11T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/?p=15506"},"modified":"2026-09-07T12:51:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T17:51:46","slug":"leaving-worry-behind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2026\/10\/11\/leaving-worry-behind\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaving Worry Behind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two-minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Oct.-11th-819x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15508\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Oct.-11th-819x1024.png 819w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Oct.-11th-240x300.png 240w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Oct.-11th-768x960.png 768w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Oct.-11th.png 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ron and I hosted our first connection group for our church. In the days leading up to the first meeting, we tried to prepare well. Planning the menu, we chose something adult- and kid-friendly. The day before, we cleaned the entire house and made sure we had everything we needed. Once we texted the final details, we felt ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And things went well. All the preparations paid off. But the one thing we didn\u2019t think about caused the problem. We have a black trash can that we use for dog food. The bottom has a foot that came off, leaving a small, exposed metal bar. When one of the kids started crying, it didn\u2019t take long to find the culprit. Thankfully, the minor injury didn\u2019t take long to overcome. But it never fails: what we worry about never comes to fruition, and the one thing we never think of does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jesus addressed worry. People worried about food and clothing, the things needed for tomorrow. First, the Savior reminds His audience about creation. God feeds the birds and clothes the flowers. If He cares for them, how much more will He care for His children? (Matthew 6:26-30).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then Christ tells His followers what they should do to combat worry:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cSeek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Matthew 6:33<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When we seek God above all else and strive to live for Him, He will give us everything we need. The Lord holds tomorrow in His hands; we don\u2019t have to live tomorrow today. Worrying about what might happen in the future takes us out of the present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the now, we find God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jesus doesn\u2019t mean we should live carelessly and irresponsibly. We shouldn\u2019t ignore legitimate preparation. Ron and I should prepare for our group. Planning comes from wisdom. But we shouldn\u2019t let anxiety steal today\u2019s peace because of our desire to control tomorrow. Spending emotional energy on what might happen makes us miss out on the now and the blessing of the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">God gives us grace for today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We don\u2019t need tomorrow\u2019s grace now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When tomorrow arrives, God will meet us there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Journal Questions:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What are you worrying about right now that you need to surrender to God and leave in His hands?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How would your day look different if you focused on today instead of trying to figure out tomorrow?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What is one practical step you can take today to trust God more fully with your future?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Application:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">When your mind starts to wander to tomorrow, pray, \u201cJesus, help me stay present with You today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two-minute read. Ron and I hosted our first connection group for our church. In the days leading up to the first meeting, we tried to prepare well. Planning the menu, we chose something adult- and kid-friendly. The day before, we cleaned the entire house and made sure we had everything we needed. Once we texted&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2026\/10\/11\/leaving-worry-behind\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Leaving Worry Behind<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15506"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15515,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15506\/revisions\/15515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}