I have been called a "worry wart" (and similar, equally ridiculous names) for as long as I can remember. Even when I was in elementary school, it wasn't uncommon for me to become completely exhausted from worrying about everything from tests, to social situations, to hurricane landfall paths (not kidding), and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (actually kidding).

Once I went to college, my worrying tendencies got worse. I would inevitably get a cold and crash after every semester, having worried myself sick about finals. Throughout college, I continued to worry about things I couldn't control. I became a follower of Jesus my freshman year at Florida State, and while I knew it wasn't good to worry, I chalked it up as one of my personality "traits," or symptoms of my Type A disposition. I figured that being stressed and anxious was pretty normal, and as long as I could get over it with a nice long jog or a glass of wine, I was doing just fine. (Funny how we justify the 'small' things, huh?)

One Sunday, Dean was discussing an individual's view of God, and how it could be either big or small. He said that when you worry and stress about things, you're essentially saying that you don't trust that God can handle it, so you're trying to tackle it yourself-what a small God-view to have! While I wasn't doing it intentionally, with every freak out and worrisome moment I was telling God that I didn't believe he was in control, and that I would be able to get through it on my own. In times that I should have been leaning on Him for support, I ended up pushing Him to the side (at least metaphorically).

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Don't worry 'bout nothing, pray about everything.

Silliness aside, since hearing that message, I have made a concerted effort to give all of my stress and anxiety up to God in prayer. It's definitely difficult, especially since stress is such a default reaction for me, but I know I'm getting better at it every day.

We serve an amazing, all-powerful Creator that wants to help us carry the weight we've been lugging around (and trust me, even the little things get heavy after a while). It's a beautiful thing that we don't have to walk through this life alone; we just have to do our best to remember that.