4 %

What consumes you? What do you wake up thinking about? What do you like awake at night thinking about?
For me, it's X, Y, and Z!
So, you thought I was going to tell you exactly what is worrying me?! I thought about it, but quickly realized that it doesn't really matter. To you. You may glance at it, judge it, pray on it, and then ultimately you will forget about it and go back to thinking on the very thing(s) that consume you.
I get it! We all want someone to bear our burdens and share the load. People will for a while, but they are not meant to indefinitely. We have Someone who will, though. He is usually our "last resort", although He wants to be our first!
In Scripture He tells us to "... cast all your cares on Him, because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7.
Sometimes I get it right. He is the first one I run to. I cast my cares on Him and I take His "yoke upon me... for His yoke is easy and His burden is light." Matthew 11:29-30. At other times, I wrestle, argue, cry, and fight the most simple solution. I forget that He is GOOD! I lose sight of the FACT that He is working ALL THINGS together for MY GOOD!
But then...
When I feel at my lowest, He reminds me. It's like a gentle tap on the shoulder and a quiet voice saying, "I am here."
Yesterday, was like that. I cried myself to sleep the night before. I was sad, lonely, and felt hopeless. My pity party was in full swing. Somehow I fell asleep. It was the sleep of the weary. When I woke up, I grabbed my Bible and journal, as I always do, and sat down to read. Then came that gentle tap and quiet voice. "Write down what you are thankful for." What?! "Write down what you are thankful for. Don't hold back."
And so I did. I wrote and I wrote and I wrote. Before I knew it I filled three pages. Coffee, New Windows, Freedom, etc. From simple to deep, I wrote down everything I could think of.
Then came the gentle voice again. "Now, write down what you are worried about."
So I did. And you know what? It only took three lines! Now I am not making light of those three lines. They are things that are serious and I need to give them time and thought. They won't just go away on their own; nevertheless, it was only three lines that were keeping me awake at night and miserable during the day.
BLESSED PERSPECTIVE!
I was not awake long enough to be clever, so I believe this next move was nudged by my Heavenly Father as well.  I counted the number of lines listing things I was thankful for and it came out to 75. Next I figured out a percentage: If I take the 3 things I am worried about and divide it by the 75 things I am thankful for that equals 4%.
That's right! 4%
4% was consuming me, making me lose sleep, effecting my relationships, and keeping me focused on myself!
This was a huge revelation to me!
So now, when I start to "go there" and worry, I can remind myself not to dwell on the 4%. That's the key right there. I have to DEAL with the 4%, but I don't have to DWELL on it!