Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you. 1 Peter 5:7 (TLB)
As my mom stepped into the grocery store one day, a man coming out paused and said, “You have the most peaceful-looking face. You look like you don’t have a care in the world.” My mom answered, “That’s because I gave them all to Jesus!”
I understand that you can’t always tell how a person feels on the inside by looking at her facial expression, but then again, sometimes you can. That man’s comment didn’t surprise me in light of recent phone conversations I’d had with my mother. But he might have been surprised to know that when I was growing up, my mother qualified as a worrier—like I tend to be today.
My dad passed away in 2016, the day before my parents’ sixty-ninth anniversary. Naturally widowhood has made some things more difficult for my mom and brought new problems and issues.
Mom often will tell me about a difficulty or even scary incident that happened, but she always ends by saying, “I just prayed about it and turned it over to the Lord. He’ll take care of it.”
Just before His crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1, NLT). How can we obey that in a fallen world where terrible things happen every day? Jesus gave the secret at the end of the verse: “Trust [Believe in some translations] in Me.” Do we trust Him with a scary medical diagnosis, a wayward spouse or child, a sudden job loss? If we trust Jesus to take care of everything that concerns us, then our faces will reflect that.
Faith Step: Glance at yourself in a mirror. What message does your face reflect? Peace and trust in Jesus, or stress? Recite aloud John 14:1 until you smile.
