Here’s a simple remedy to overcoming that anxious feeling you get when a problem suddenly smacks you in the face…
First, grab a pen and paper. I’ll wait. Ready? Okay, now draw a long vertical line right down the middle of the paper. Next, on the left side of that line, write down all the parts of the problem that you can control. What things can you do in response to what happened? Who can you call to help you? Those sorts of things. Your list might cover the entire half of the page, or you might just have one or two things to write down. You might not be able to write anything on that side; that’s okay. Just write what you can.
Next, on the right side, write down all the parts of the problem that you can’t control. What is too big to handle? What has become impossible? What is “too late” to do anything about? Those sorts of things. Again, don’t worry about filling the page up, or having the same number of things as you do on the other side. Just write what you can.
When you’re done, take a good look at the right side, the side labeled THINGS I CAN’T CONTROL. Now, take those things and make them the subject of your daily prayers. You can’t do anything about it, so fretting about it won’t help either. If it could, you’d have that written on the left side. Instead, remember that you serve a God who can do what you can not. You serve a God who can do the impossible.
Now take a good look at the left side, the side labeled THINGS I CAN CONTROL. These are the things you need do, to work on, to call about, to get started with, etc. So do it. Get started. It might take you a while. It might never get done. But you have to get started. You can’t just sit there and fret. It does no good. Get busy. Do what you can, and what you can’t, pray about.
That’s it.
You do that, and you just might find that anxious feeling in your stomach lighten up a bit.
~Matthew