What To Do With Worry (And How To Be A Peaceful Mom)

Moms carry a lot.

Sometimes it’s tangible things. We carry babies, laundry, groceries, food, toys, bags, you name it!

But sometimes what we hold is less obvious. It’s under the surface, invisible to the naked eye, and yet more weighty than any physical thing we bear.

We live under the weight of worry.

The health of our kids, the future of their education, the state of their development, and their eternal salvation are things we try to carry on our shoulders, and sometimes we don’t even realize we’re doing it. Add to all of this wanting a clean home, a curated closet, healthy meals that are also delicious, cheap, and quick to prepare, peace in all our relationships, and oh yes, our pre-baby body.

Yes, we Moms can try to carry a lot.

And sometimes, we start to crumble.

Our knees buckle under the weight of our cares and concerns. We cry. We get angry and resentful. We panic, and we throw up our hands and ask what’s the point. We remember that we are the fragile human beings we always were. We realize we can’t bear all these burdens.

We walk freely for a while. We breathe a sigh of relief.

But slowly, gradually, we start to pick up the pieces. We give it another shot, adding load after load, and the cycle starts all over again.

Can you relate? Do you feel like you carry the world on your shoulders? Have you buckled under the weight yet?

Mama, what if there was another way?

What if we didn’t have to carry all this load?

I remember hearing a missionary speak at our church, telling a story about someone from another country coming to faith. This person said that when he died, he was going to “go light.” In other words, he was going to die free, at peace, and without the weight of sin.

This phrase stuck with me. How many of us are joyfully anticipating “dying light,” and yet we continue to “live weighed down.” What if we could not only die light but live light?

No matter our circumstance, what if we could have inner peace and rest from our labor?

How do we experience this?

It’s not by neglecting our responsibilities. It’s not by diminishing the weight of our callings as wives and mothers. It’s not by loving our husbands and babies less, as if that were even possible.

No, it’s by taking the loads we bear and placing them on another’s shoulders.

1 Peter 5:7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

We aren’t meant to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. There is only one person strong enough to do that.

We can give every worry to Jesus. We can trust Him.

When my husband is taking care of our children, I don’t sit there worrying about them. I don’t wonder if they’re alright, safe, or happy. I know that there okay, because their Dad loves them just as much as I do and is strong enough and responsible enough to take care of them.

In a much greater way, we can give our children into God’s hands, because He loves them even more than we do. And He is completely strong and totally trustworthy.

Our calling as wives and mothers is not to try and carry the weight of the world, but rather it’s to let CHRIST bear the burden, watch CHRIST live through us, and bow our knee to CHRIST our King.

But how does this look practically? How do we cast our anxieties on God instead of trying to carry them on our own?

I want to share some practical examples of how this could play out in your own life.

But remember, this is a matter of the heart. There is no magic formula I can give you. There’s no action that will inherently make you cast your burden on God.

But perhaps these ideas can help.

How To Cast Your Anxieties on God.

1. Listen to worship music.

Turn on a worship song. There’s something about good, solid, God-glorifying music that redirects our minds and hearts to Christ. It can remind us of what is true, most important, and worthy of our worship. The camera zooms out, and our eyes turn upward, and we remember how glorious God is. Every worry really does begin to fade.

Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

2. Tell God everything you’re anxious about (cry, be angry, etc.)

Get alone, and start talking. Tell God everything you’re worried about. Lay it all out before him, the big stuff and the little stuff. Let yourself cry or get angry or express any other emotions you feel. Release the tension inside, and vocalize your fears. God is with you, when no one else is around. He sees every tear that falls, and He wants to hear your heart.

Psalm 62:8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah

Psalm 56:8 You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?

3. Get rid of the lie you’re believing.

Release any lies you’re believing to God. Pin point the false narratives that you’re telling yourself. The enemy of your soul is a liar, and sometimes even a good thing like our love for our children can get twisted. In our fear, love, and uncertainty, we can start believing lies about God, ourselves, and our world. It’s time to let these go.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

4. Throw your worries in the trash.

Write down what you’re worried about on a slip of paper, and then throw it away. This simple act may prove a powerful tool in helping you give your anxieties to God.

5. Remember what you can’t control.

Remember what you can control and what you can’t. So much of what we as Moms try to carry is really outside our control. While we have responsibilities to care for our kids, marriages, and homes, God is sovereign over it all. We can’t make our children always healthy, never sad, and full of faith. These things are in God’s hands.

6. Lift up your hands.

Again, this is a physical act that mirrors what you’re doing in your heart. Imagine your hands are full. Palms up, raise your arms and give them to Jesus.

7. Go serve someone else.

Look for someone to encourage and build up. Sometimes getting our minds off of ourselves and our situations can be the encouragement and perspective we need.

Proverbs 11:25 Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

8. Take a nap.

Rest. It may be that you are simply exhausted. If you even have five minutes to spare, lay down and close your eyes. We can entrust our cares to God and go to sleep, because He never does.

Psalm 127:2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

9. Focus on something else.

Rather than focusing on your worry, think about something else – something good. In this way, we can hand our worries to God and trust that we don’t have to constantly mull them over in order to control them. We can rest from our cares, and we can give ourselves some relief from a spiral of anxiety.

(See Philippians 4:8 again).

10. Embrace mystery.

Remember that God is the only One who knows everything, and it’s okay if we don’t understand. When questions arise, it’s so tempting to want answers and not rest until we find them. But the longer you walk with Jesus, the more you realize you can’t know everything and you don’t need to…

…because you know Him.

Mama, whatever worries you’re holding today, I implore you to lay them down. I need to too. Leave them with Christ. Let Him carry the load, and let Him carry you.

FAQ About Worry.

1. How do I grow to trust God more?

First, ask Him to help you. God WANTS you to trust Him, and so ask Him for His help. Second, remember how He has been faithful in the past. This will spur you on to trust that He will be faithful in the future.