Suffering

Lord, the light of your peace and love shines only inches away from my heart

But I have stepped back in discouragement and weariness

Of this I repent and ask your forgiveness and your help.

I wait on you to renew my strength. I hold myself still. My words few.

Light my path O Lord. Or not. Only open my fretting heart and churning mind

To see your nearness and to trust not only with my mind but with my spirit.

For you O Lord are God in heaven, and I am here on earth.

Yet, Emmanuel is still here – God with us. When the Son left, the Spirit came. God with me.

And not clothed in flesh and consigned to a single geographical spot or chronological time.

God still is here in me - Oh, Holy Spirit, is this not a time when you might shout instead of whisper?

To overcome the heartsickness of hope deferred.

Jesus, I cannot, and if I could I would not, talk myself into a good mood.

But I can and will speak the truth to myself.

You have taught me what is good and what you require of me.

To do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with my God … with You.

Do I need all these material matters solved before I will do that?

Can I not today in the midst of addressing my mundane responsibilities and tasks

Do justly? Love mercy? Walk humbly with you?

No in truth I cannot. O Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on me.

Will I refuse to praise and to be joyful until all is well with my life?

Or only until all is well with my soul?

This waiting, these uncertainties, and the seemingly insurmountable pile of problems to be solved.

It is suffering. So I have your Word on it – I rejoice in my sufferings for they produce perseverance.

And perseverance produces … well. Whatever. Spirit-buoyed hope and trust do not disappoint us.

Number and direct my steps today, for I truly do not know what to do.

Is Worry a Sin?

Worry -- anxiety - is a kind of suffering, and CAN be a bondage. But it is not in our own strength we can shrug it off. I recall Exodus 6:9-11 when Moses told the Israelites that the Lord was going to deliver them. It says: Ex 6:9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage. 10 Then the LORD said to Moses, 11 "Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country."

Sometimes our discouragement and bondage are so great as to make us lose hope, but the Lord and his servants continue as independent operators to work for our deliverance.
If worry weren't something we were prone to, the Lord would not have had to tell us what to do about it in that wonderful verse -- the proactive stand to take against anxiety (take EVERYTHING to God in prayer, asking for what you want and need). And then he finishes his instruction w/ a promise -- the peace of God will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Does he promise you'll get what you asked for? No. Does he promise your problems will go away? No. Does he promise justice and / or mercy on earth in these matters? No. Does he even promise emotional healing? No. He promises a spiritual peace that is strong enough to keep you following Christ.
Regardless of the pain, mental or physical or emotional, we can always make this DECISION: We can refuse to accuse God of wrongdoing. (Job 1:22 - In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing).
And we can take any one or more of the other measures mentioned by other commentators to help us end or endure the suffering of worry, or repent of it if we are trying to blackmail God -- stubbornly holding on to it until God “capitulates” by giving us what we want.