WORDS FOR THOSE WHO WORRY

​WORDS FOR THOSE WHO WORRY

Last week I delivered a message on the topic of anxiety. I think it struck a chord—we are all prone to feel anxious.
I want to pass along to you some quotes that I find comforting when I am tempted to worry. They are taken from the writings of the Catholic Bishop Francis De Sales who lived at the turn of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The quotes were given to be by a fellow Bethelite as I was preparing to leave for a personal, spiritual retreat. I pass along these words with a few bonus quotes thrown in:

• Strive to see God in all things without exception, and consent to His will joyously.
  
• Do everything for God, uniting yourself to Him by a mere upward glance, or the overflowing of your heart towards Him.
  
• Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.
  
• Commend all to God, and then lie still and be at rest in His bosom.
  
• Whatever happens, abide steadfast in a determination to cling simply to God, trusting to His eternal love for you; and if you find that you have wandered forth from this shelter, recall your heart quietly and simply.
  
• Maintain a holy simplicity of mind, and do not smother yourself with a host of cares, wishes or longings, under any pretext.
  
• Have patience with all things, but, first of all with yourself.
  
• Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly. 

I hope these words will help you find rest in God, who cares about the big, and small, things in our lives. --Pastor Tom

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