It's funny, I've never viewed myself as a worrier but I believe God is helping me to examine my life a little closer in this area.  Psalm 37:8 says, "Do not fret--it only causes harm.  Hmmm...this sounds just a little serious to me.  Investigating my actions further...here are some things that cause me to fret:  relationships, my kids, other people's kids, other people (in general), physical harm, & the list could go on... hopefully, you get the picture, I worry.  This is not constant with me because I know there are times that my life seems worry free.  Worry is the opposite of trust.  It is a lack of trust.  It is an area of bondage not freedom.  It is a place of unrest.
     "It sounds easy to talk about "resting in the Lord" until the nest is upset, says Oswald Chambers."  His devotion really hit home with me today.  He says, "fretting always ends in sin.  We imagine that a little anxiety and worry are an indication of how really wise we are; it is much more an indication of how really wicked we are.  Fretting springs from a determination to get our own way.  Our Lord NEVER worried and was NEVER anxious, because He was not "out" to realize His own ideas;  He was "out" to realize God's ideas. Fretting is wicked if you are a child of God."   OUCH!  This really hurts.  Surely not wicked....surely not in my top 10 sins. :)  Really, this is how fleshly I am a part from His grace at work in my life.

   If the opposite of worry is trust & rest, the solution is to go to God & admit your lack & commit your heart to Him.  If you are overwhelmed... (as we ALL are at times), go to a brother or sister in Christ for confession & prayer.  God does not want you to feel alone or discouraged.  Today, our country celebrates a day of FREEDOM.  It cost the lives of others so that we could have this freedom.  It cost God's Son His life so that we could be free.  JESUS shed HIS blood...His perfect blood to make a way for us to live a life of freedom...free from the bondage of sin & death.  Thus, free from worry.  Your fretting not only causes harm to you, but to others.  Let's release it today to the ONE who says, "Let not your heart be troubled."  He is WHO HE says HE IS!  He's got it ALL so give it back to Him!  And, at the end of the day...you can rest.