What do you need to throw down?

I try to start every morning with a simple time of prayer.

I often pray, "God, give me supernatural knowledge that will lead to greater understanding so that I can share godly wisdom with the people that I will interact with today."

But I began to notice something recently in my prayer times that was actually bothersome. I noticed that as I was praying, I was distracted by anxious thoughts. Often, my mind would wander into my schedule or problems that were happening in my life, and I would become sidetracked.

A friend of mine, who's actually a psychologist, suggested that I start to make an anxiety list. He said, "Every time that you think an anxious thought, just write it down and then come back to prayer." So, that's what I did. I wrote them down. I actually threw them down on paper.

That action reminded me of a friend from Scripture. He was desperately anxious about what would happen if a group of people didn't believe his story. Let's listen to a conversation between Moses and God.

“Moses answered, ‘What if they don’t believe me or listen to me and say, “The Lord did not appear to you?”

Then the Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’

‘A staff,’ he replied.

The Lord said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Reach out and take it by the tail.’ So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

‘This,’ the Lord said, ‘is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.’” (Exodus 4:1-5, NIV)

I want to go back to the words of God to Moses: "What do you have in your hand? Throw it down." And I would ask this question to you, "What is that in your heart? Throw it down."

Take all of your anxiety, concerns, worry, stress, pain, and throw it down. Throw it down on paper, throw it into a note on your phone. Just whatever you do, don't carry it with you!

When we carry anxiety with us, there is an exhaustion that's hard to put into words, and God does not want us to carry that weight or that burden. When you throw down your anxiety, you are being faithful to the command of Scripture from 1 Peter 5:7: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7, NIV)

You don't have to carry the burden. You can throw your anxiety at the feet of Jesus and walk free, walk light, and walk with joy.

Never forget, my friend. You are a miracle. Your friend,

You are a miracle!