Glory {Art 2016} Scripture Challenge #5, Worry

Happy Mother's Day Weekend sweet blog readers! I am posting the May study a day early. I thought that if some of you had time to yourselves on Mother's Day or even today, that you might enjoy this study as a time for renewal and to prepare for the week ahead. Enjoy!

The Study

This past Tuesday as I was driving, I heard this on KLOVE:

"Worrying about tomorrow robs today of its strength."

And I would add to that that worry robs us of today's joy. I immediately thought how perfect that was for my girls as they had final exams this past week. We also lost one of our precious dogs this week suddenly and unexpectedly. After I had written most of this post, I realized God did not want me to worry about how or when to tell our girls. He gave me the words, the perfect timing, and has comforted us all. I also realized that each of you also have a lot going on in your lives—end of school year craziness, job difficulties, family issues, or maybe you too just needed this reminder.

So, what is worry? Well, dictionary.com says "to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret." When I look at that definition, it is perfect. When we worry about something, we are tormenting ourselves instead of experiencing the joy that God may have for us at that moment. When we worry about something, we are suffering from disturbing thoughts. Have you ever worried about something so wonderful that it wasn't disturbing? I doubt it. In that case, we would be looking forward to it with great expectation instead of it being disturbing. When we worry about something, we fret or become eaten away by the subject of our worry. We become bound to that worry, and it eats us up. God does not want us to be chained down by worry and fear. He died so that we might be free from that. Listen to this song by Lauren Daigle called "How Can It Be."

Chorus

"You plead my cause
You right my wrongs
You break my chains
You overcome
You gave Your life
To give me mine
You say that I am free
How can it be
How can it be"

Give your worries and your fears to Him so that you can be free from the chains of worry and experience the strength and joy of the day He has given you today! He tells us to pray, give our worries to Him, and we will then experience His peace. 

Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

The Life Application Study Bible says this about Philippians 4:6-7 "Imagine never being anxious about anything. It seems like an impossibility. We all have worries on the job, in our homes, at school. But Paul's advice is to turn our worries into prayers. Do you want to worry less? Then pray more! Whenever you start to worry, stop and pray!" 

So perfect—pray, and I would add to that to listen during that time of prayer too. As I began to worry about what to tell our girls about our precious pup's passing, I turned to prayer. In that quiet moment, God told me exactly what to tell our girls. It was perfect, and as I shared the words He gave me, they were comforted. If I would have continued to give into worry and fretting over what to say, how to say it, when to say it, I would have missed the beautiful words He had for all of us. So, don't miss out on the joy, comfort, and strength He has waiting for you by worrying and fretting. Turn to Him!

Matthew 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Luke 12:25 "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?"

The Art

Because I have not done a Bible Journaling page in quite some time and because I love this quote so much, I decided to put it in my Bible with the Luke 12:25 verse.

Papers: misc. book paper 

Stamps: Ali Edwards Heart Story, Technique Tuesday Say it to Remember and Everyday Words

Stamp Ink: Archival Ink jet black 

Paints: Kurtake watercolors, Dylusions paint fresh lime, Folk Art wicker white, Golden Open Acrylic teal 

Tools: Stencil Girl Deconstructed Floral Bouquet, Pigma Micron pens 0.3, scissors, Simply Simmons 10 round brush, waterbrush 

Embellishments: Illustrated Faith Say It Colorful and Banners stickers, Jillibean Soup birthday bisque mini alpha, Tim Holtz Chit Chat stickers

Feel free to join us on the Facebook page where some people will be sharing their creations. We also have some discussions that will be going on there too about the study. If you don't use Facebook and want to share your creation here, do so below by using Inlinkz! To see all of the information regarding this challenge and the previous studies and art tips, please see this post here. Have a relaxing Mother's Day!

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