Fit For Her Journey

Conquering Worry

• Allie Gibbs • Season 1 • Episode 8

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Worry can creep into our lives and obscure our spiritual path if left unchecked. On this episode of the FIT FOR HER JOURNEY podcast, let's dive into the effects of worry and its impact on our spiritual lives, which can be preventing us from experiencing the transformative work God desires to perform within us. Through personal revelations and biblical teachings, this episode explores how spiritual alignment and divine wisdom can guide us to lasting peace.

A seemingly minor incident opened my eyes to the persistent nature of hidden sins, and how they can stifle our spiritual progress. Together, we explore the vital importance of identifying and addressing these subtle disruptions, aligning ourselves with Jesus’s teachings to clear a path for God’s transformative work within us.

Embrace the power of divine partnership as we reflect on scripture, where prayer and gratitude emerge as powerful antidotes to worry and dealing with sin. Experience the profound peace that guards our hearts and minds when we choose to lean on God instead of our own understanding. 

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Speaker 1:

you are now listening to the fit for her journey podcast with Allie Gibbs. Hey, fit for her journey family. We're back with another episode. Okay, I have to be honest with you and tell y'all that I was wrestling, truly wrestling, with this episode because during my time sitting with God, I thought I knew what he wanted me to share with you all. I prayed for wisdom and clarity. I prayed for you all and asked God to reveal to me what you, my sisters, were experiencing and may need to hear, to touch your hearts. And when I thought I heard correctly, it changed. Yep, it changed. So here we are and I'm asking Lord your will be done, not mine. I pray he rises up as I decrease. I pray he rises up as I decrease and by the end of this episode you have the encounter, conviction, revelation or confirmation that God has for you and he receives all the glory. Amen, amen.

Speaker 1:

Let's get into it y'all. Today I want to talk about the effects of worry. Mmm, that's a big one. Y'all, we all carry a bit or a lot of worry. We often worry about our children, completing projects and tasks at work, what you're going to feed the kids for dinner, even worrying if they're going to eat what you cooked, because you have a couple picky eaters. Oh, just me. That's only in my household. I know I can't be the only one. All right, y'all. We also worry about our relationships, finances, if we will have enough savings for retirement or college tuition for the kids. We find ourselves worrying about what life will look like once the kids are grown up and move out to live life on their own. Some of us currently worry about bills being paid on time or at all. With the way that the economy is today. We don't fall short of worrying about loved ones and the sudden decline in their health. Or maybe you're worried about the recent diagnosis you received from your doctor about your health. See, worrying about the things of life, rather big or small, impacts how we function and show up in the world. Worrying even affects us spiritually and how we trust God.

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In this generation we even worry about petty things. Yes, the petty things. You know the things that often don't feel petty in the moment. But when you act out in pettiness, your actions show the way of narrow-mindedness, bitterness, disregard and lack of humility. Now you get convicted by the Holy Spirit and you see how petty you really were. And now you're led to apologize and repent because you find yourself walking in sin. Quick story I found myself convicted of a hidden sin that, if I'm honest, I've prayed about and have been doing the work to stop. As a child of God, I don't want to knowingly do anything that would place me outside of God's will or misstep in a way that would decrease the importance of who he is in my life, but I recently found myself convicted by the Holy Spirit.

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So my family and I were going to church. We got to church early because we wanted to make sure we got parking and were able to get the kids situated before taking our seats. As we pulled up, we were instructed by the parking attendants that they were setting up to start receiving cars in the parking lot and if we would just give them about 10 minutes we could pull in to park. So we pulled up, my husband pulled over to the side of the road and just ahead of us were a few cars also waiting to get into the parking lot. Now we were already near the entrance to the parking lot, but my husband would have needed to make an illegal U-turn in the middle of the road in order to come into the parking lot properly when it was time. So, as it was time to come into the church parking lot, I wanted him to make that illegal and inconvenient U-turn, but my husband decided to not do that. He decided to drive up by the other cars and come back down with ease, instead of doing what I suggested and do a U-turn right where he was.

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Y'all it seemed, as soon as he moved up the road to turn around to head into the church parking lot, an influx of traffic and cars began to come toward the parking lot in both directions. We both saw this happening and I felt myself getting very irritated and angry because I thought we were going to have to wait even longer in traffic. I was hot thinking. If he just would have listened to what I was saying then we wouldn't be in this situation. But I was convicted and realized where I was and how my anger and irritability was not positioning me in the right posture to walk into the presence and house of the Lord. Quickly I realized how petty my thoughts were to the bigger picture and to the call to conviction on the hidden sin that was before me. I recognized what took place in me and cut it off. I apologized to my husband and lifted up a silent prayer of repentance to my father before getting out of the car and stepping into his house. Sis, don't let worrying or being petty cause you to miss what God wants to do in you and through you. I thought I dealt with those hidden sins, but they can and will resurface if you allow them.

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I recently heard a sermon where the pastor talked about us dealing aggressively with our sin to cut it off as soon as it happens. Sin by either word, action or thought. Cut it off. He spoke about the metaphor of cutting off the hand and gouging out the eye if they lead you into sin, as it's better to make it into heaven with one hand or one eye than to be in hell with both. Those scriptures are in Matthew 5 from Jesus's sermon on the mount. Now, please don't take it out of context, as the pastor was not speaking toward self-mutilation.

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After hearing that sermon, it opened my eyes to another perspective of the hidden sins we have, which are in the heart as we cover them up because they are on the inside, often unseen by people on the outside. Things like unforgiveness, pride, anger, jealousy, idolatry, lust, selfish ambition. In the message he also talked about how we as believers often don't deal aggressively with our sin because we are deceived by grace, because in today's time we haven't seen or felt the full wrath of God against sin For some of us. We might need to step into that prayer closet. I'm just saying Even though the scriptures don't say it exactly, but we need to pray and repent for the petty sins too.

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Repentance of sin is something we as believers should be doing daily, no matter how holy or righteous we may think we are. Why? Because we are all sinners, born in and living in sin, and we don't know all the hidden sins in our hearts. We see it in scripture as David meditates on his own sinfulness in Psalms. Psalms 19, 12-13 says 19, 12 through 13 says how can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? This is a literal question, because as God continues to reveal himself and his holiness to us, we learn more and more about our sinfulness. The verse continues by saying cleanse me from these hidden faults, keep your servant from deliberate sins, don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin. This is so good, y'all, because when God's hand is on your life and I mean really on your life. You want to pursue God with all of your being. You want to seek him and to become more like Jesus in how you serve, how you live, how you show up. You want to be a branch that bears much fruit here on earth. You want to be a branch that bears much fruit here on earth, not by fame or in a worldly, materialistic way, but in a way that brings glory to God.

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See, worry can plague many Christian believers. Worrying about sin can produce crippling guilt, so much so that you may worry too much about committing sin unknowingly. You may have thoughts like did I do that good thing with selfish intentions? Was my response led with enough kindness? Am I being obedient in my calling? Jesus paid our ransom in full sis and God fully and completely forgives us for our sins, even the sins we do unknowingly. We don't have to worry or let them control us, especially if we're dealing aggressively with the sins we recognize. Cut it off.

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I want to add that it can be hard to not worry about things in life as a Christian, but our worry can reveal to us the amount of unbelief we have in God's promises, his ability to provide for us and to keep us safe in an evil world. It's giving signs of pride and the need to be in control. See, jesus is the way, the truth and the light, and in Matthew 6, while giving his sermon on the mount, he teaches us about worry. We as people, day to day, have varying worries, as I mentioned earlier. A day have varying worries, as I mentioned earlier. But Jesus says in Matthew 6.25, that is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life, whether you have enough food and drink or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food and your body more than clothing? I want to jump down to Matthew 6, 31 through 34, and it says so don't worry about these things saying what will we eat, what will we drink, what will we wear? These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today. For today, it's clear that the Lord knows the ill effects of worry and ensures he speaks to us by telling us not to worry about the needs God promises to already supply us.

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If you ever had a health scare, been on a fitness journey or even tried to clean up your diet, you know it is not easy to process it all at once or to make a lifestyle change immediately. Overnight you may even have been in a position of worry if you could achieve a positive outcome and or result, and often when someone sets a big goal to improve their health or to become more active physically, that big goal can seem overwhelming, making room for worry and guilt if the outcome is not achieved by our own timeline. Worry can rob your joy in any given day and it reduces your ability to trust God in the process. God knows all of your needs, in which the scripture says. He knows what the health report says. He knows what you can do in your own strength. He even knows the food your body needs for successful weight loss. He knows all of your needs. Seek him first, above all else, and when you are living life in alignment to his will, he will give you everything you need.

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Time spent worrying is time wasted, as it can't add a single hour or moment to our lives. Don't let worry or the hidden sins of worrying immobilize you. Worry or the hidden sins of worrying, immobilize you, disrupt your progress, cause disruption to your health or cause you to treat others in a negative way or interfere with your relationship with God. So I want to encourage you today to do this. Instead, surrender yourself to God and know that the blood of Jesus covers you, cleanses you and restores you from sin. Don't take it for granted. Cut off sin when you recognize it. Decrease your worry, do what you can well and trust God's guidance.

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We can do far more when we partner with God than we can do on our own, and I want to leave you all with Philippians 4, 6 through 7. Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Can we give God glory for Jesus and for being a good, good father. Amen. I hope you have been blessed by today's episode and, if you have, my only ask is that you follow and subscribe and share it with another sister. I'm sending you much love and God bless you. You.