“Don’t Let the Crystal Balls Drop”

 

How is it possible to be anxious for nothing?

 

Lillian Torres, assistant evangelism director for the Pennsylvania Conference, asked that question to the more than 20 women attending Adventist Women Leaders Friday Night Fellowship on March 26. The women, joining the virtual event from Los Angeles and Oklahoma to the Virgin Islands and St. Croix, admitted it is difficult.

 

Torres has asked herself the same question through disappointments, struggles and loss. Even the stress of an endless to-do list is enough to cause anxiety. 

 

And yet, in her 27 years of full-time ministry, she’s learned to cling to Philippians 4:6-7, with its admonition to “be anxious for nothing.”

 

Here’s how: “Everything I do … is filtered through these three truths,” Torres said.

 

1. God loves me. I am a daughter of God and in Him I find value, worth and purpose.

 

2. I have been saved by grace. Because Jesus gave his life for me, I live with this assurance. It has nothing to do with my accomplishments.

 

3. Grace is stronger than any struggle you can go through. The truth is that where sin abounds grace abounds much more (Romans 5:20). It doesn’t matter how many times I fail, how many times I fall.

 

Torres said the best advice she ever received reminded her that in life and ministry there will always be a multitude of things to juggle at the same time. However, some things are crystal balls and others are rubber balls. The crystal balls are priorities like spending time at the foot of the cross and affirming your faith. Don’t let the crystal balls drop. The rubber balls will be OK if they fall. They will bounce back. 

 

— Michele Joseph, managing editor, Adventist Women Leaders newsletter