I always chuckled at the homemade turn lanes…
Two solitary, stick-straight country roads criss-crossed at perfect 90-degree angles. But over the years, locals decided they didn’t want to make such a decisive turn at the quiet intersection. They made a more leisurely turn over the grass instead. They did it so often that the grass wore away. Someone threw gravel down.
Eventually, the county gave in and added stop signs. The homemade turn lanes in the rarely trafficked intersection became official simply because they were an easy habit to make and a hard one to break.
It was funny to encounter the results of habit on that back road. It is less funny when my mind likewise operates out of habit, following well-worn thought paths instead of the one who is the Way.
Simply telling myself not to overthink, not to worry, or not to rehash things one more time doesn’t work. I need something to reorient me back onto the path I actually want to travel down.
Gratitude is often just the thing for breaking out of a worry rut.
“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.” Philippians 4:6-7
Notice “thanksgiving,” hiding out right there in the middle. It looks out of place.
We follow the logic readily from trying not to be anxious to praying and petitioning God in every situation. But what has thanksgiving got to do with our anxiety, or our “every situation?”
Giving thanks to God as we present our requests to Him puts worry in its place by reminding us of God’s place.
When we give thanks to Him, we remember that everything we have comes from Him. We acknowledge the privilege it is to be able to come before Him with anything so freely. Our hearts are reoriented to the reasons we have for giving thanks, no matter what situation we are in.
Thanksgiving is a ramp out of the rut of worry, onto the path of peace.
It doesn’t make sense to keep worrying as we petition God, not when thankfulness has us recognizing who it is we are presenting our requests to and what He has already done for us through Jesus. Drawing near to Him with grateful hearts, we experience peace beyond understanding and find our hearts and minds guarded against more worries as we see God’s place in our lives and this world – and then settle into our place in Christ.
So, when I find worry becoming a habit for me, I try to replace it with the habit of giving thanks. Do you do this too? What does a habit of thanksgiving look like for you?
Thanksgiving is a ramp out of the rut of worry, onto the path of peace. Share on X
Replacing worry with thankfulness is a wonderful pursuit.