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The other day I saw a picture of a shirt that made me laugh, mostly because it hit a little too close to home. It read:

“I don’t want to be in the loop or out of the loop. I want to be aware of the loop & its contents but free from any loop-related responsibilities.”

Now, I’ll be honest—I feel anxious about the loop. As a pastor, the “loop” is never just one thing. It’s worship, pastoral care, meetings, visits, emails, preparing sermons, staff, church calendar, building concerns, finances, district meetings, community outreach and much, much more. And sometimes I carry a quiet anxiety that if I miss the loop—or if I don’t manage it well—someone will be left out, something important will be overlooked, or I’ll somehow fail to keep things together.

That’s the weight of being “in the loop” all the time. It’s not just responsibility—it’s also the pressure of wondering if I’ve done enough.

But then I remember scripture, and I breathe a little easier. In Philippians 4, Paul writes:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”Philippians 4:6-7

Paul isn’t dismissing anxiety—he knew it firsthand. He’s reminding us that God offers us something bigger than the loop: peace that doesn’t depend on us keeping everything perfectly under control.

That’s good news for me, but it’s also good news for everyone. Because the truth is, we all live with loops—family responsibilities, work demands, health concerns, relationships, and expectations. And all of us, at one time or another, get anxious about those loops.

The gift of faith isn’t that we escape the loop. It’s that we are not alone in it. God meets us there. God carries what we cannot carry. And God reminds us that our worth is not measured by how well we manage the loop, but by how deeply we are loved.

So the next time I feel anxious about the loop, I’m going to try to pause, breathe, and remember: God’s got the loop. And if God’s got it, I don’t have to hold it quite so tightly. See you Sunday!

Peace, Pastor Tracy