Wednesday, July 30, 2008

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Faith Forward, don't Worry Back

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?" (Matthew 6:25-26).

Jesus' instruction to us, repeated at least three times in this passage of scripture, is that we are not to worry.  Not about what we will eat or drink.  Not about what we will wear.  Not about how long we might live or not.  Not about how we will pay the bills.  Or about our kids. Or, any of a million things we could find to worry about.  "Do not worry about your life," he says.  And as far as I can guess, that means not at all!  Even a little bit of worry is too much according to Jesus.

I don't know if worrying is an issue for you or not.  I used to pride myself on the fact that I didn't worry.  I have discovered that I was also a liar!  When something was eating at me,  I would not talk about it and I would try not to think about it.  What I have come to realize is that I was as equally anxious as those people who spoke all their fears but worse, I wasn't even trying to deal with it.  Avoidance doesn't relieve anxiety any more than out-and-out worry. Call it anxiety, concern, care, or worry, it all ends up the same!

I have also come to discover that worrying or being anxious in any form was even more dangerous than I had at first thought.  You see, these things are actually a kind of faith.  However, it is faith in reverse — faith from the dark side!  When we are anxious or worry, we are believing for those things that we don't want to happen to be fulfilled!  We are actually applying faith in a backward direction.  That thing that I really don't want, my negative faith can turn into a reality!

Thank God that help is available!  When we admit that we really can't do anything about any of these things anyway, and choose to call out to the Someone who can make a difference, we can win this battle!

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

Why did Jesus tell you and me not to worry and why does Paul tell us to give everything to God?  Because, God wants us to be people of faith who move forward,  not end up loosing ground.  God looks after the birds and the flowers because they put their trust in him and leave it there.  And we are way more valuable than they!  (See the July 14th Challenge).  He wants so much for us not to worry or be anxious but rather, to experience his beyond-comprehending peace — his "shalom" — that place where nothing is missing and nothing is broken and all is as it should be!

God loves me and you and he wants the very best for each of us.  "Therefore I tell you, do not worry."

Faith forward, don't worry back!

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