My Anxiety Light Bulb

Read a talk by Jeffery R. Holland this morning (he is my favorite.) that made a light bulb go off in my head. There were several light-bulb moments, but amongst the most profound was this:

(Here he is quoting from a letter he received from a young mother in regards to her anxieties about raising children.)

"Maybe it is precisely our inability and anxiousness that urge us to reach out to Him and enhance His ability to reach back to us. Maybe He secretly hopes we will be anxious,” she said, “and will plead for His help."

Wait. What? We are given anxiety for a reason??

I had never thought of it like that. I've always thought of my anxiety as a weakness...I'd thought it represented a mis-trust in my Father in Heaven. I thought it showed how much my faith was lacking. It never occurred to me that maybe it's a gift from my Heavenly Father; designed to lead me to Him...designed to bring me to my knees.

All of our weaknesses eventually become strengths.

Worry leads me to my Father; teaches me to rely on Him. Worry about my baby leads me to pray about my baby. Feelings of inadequacy bring me to One who is completely adequate. They humble me and teach me to trust more completely in Him.

Every moment I plead with my Father during a moment of panic or fear is a moment that I'm speaking to Him; that I am displaying trust in Him.

My mind has been blown, ladies and gentlemen.

It's a good talk....here's the link in case you're interested:

http://www.lds.org/ensign/1997/05/because-she-is-a-mother?lang=eng&cid=facebook-shared