From Worry to Wonder

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

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Ephesians 3:20

When I was a kid, I used to play “pretend” with my childhood best friend. From “ice cream shop” to “model runway”, we played our parts using only our little imaginations and any dress-up clothes we could find. One of my favorite ways to pretend was to be a teacher, which was my dream. I would pretend to teach my stuffed animal “students” how to write cursive or solve simple math problems on my chalkboard.

Fast forward about 35 years. Did I end up being a teacher? Yes, I teach at a college. But as with many of us, some other dreams were replaced with disappointments. In seeking God to help me through life’s darker times or deeper valleys, I have been praying and asking Him to work all things for my good (Romans 8:28). That God will turn hurt into healing and messes into miracles. But, because I’m human, my normal cycle is to worry…then remind myself I am not supposed to worry (Matthew 6:34)…and then I pray, asking God to help. I don’t know about you, but I get tired of this cycle that usually begins with my not- supposed-to-be-worrying-worries.

Paul stresses in Ephesians 3:20 that God can do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. Think of a current problem you are facing right now. You may imagine an ideal solution and ask God for it. But Paul states that God can do immeasurably more, which means that you can’t measure this “more” at all. If you can’t measure something, it is overflowing, a never-ending spilling over, not containable, and without any borders at all…ever. I believe God wants to move me from a place of worry to a state of wonder. Letting go of my frantic fretting to believing in His pure power. Experiencing an anticipatory awe as to how God will bring me songs of joy when I sow with tears (Psalms 126:5)…a can’t-wait-‘til-it-happens curiosity at how God will bestow a crown of beauty instead of ashes (Isaiah 61:3)…a magnificent marveling at the way God will carry the good work he began in me to completion (Philippians 1:6).

I don’t know about you, but not only do I want to claim these promises as mine, but I want to wonder how His answers will far exceed my limited petitions, believing that not only will God work all out for good, but in ways I can’t even fathom. I want to awaken the wonder and not waste one more moment worrying when I have a limitless, boundless, “you can’t even imagine what good I have in store for you” God. In His supernatural and “immeasurably more” way, he will do “full of wonder” things that are far beyond my wildest dreams or imagination.