Do Not Worry???

Today I was reading in Matthew and I came across the command, "Do not worry." Not long after I read that I went out to get our mail and there was yet another bill in the mail. Looking at the bill and at our checking account, and what I'll get paid tomorrow and I said to God, "Umm God, WHAT!?! HOW???"

Bills pile up faster than paychecks. Surprise expenses pop up and we wonder how God expects us not to worry. And for most of us the bills are not due to frivolous living, but to life in America. Not only bills, but life in general is stressful and worrisome.

We have those bills, family members get sick or hurt, friends have problems, the world is in chaos and we read in multiple places that we are not to worry!!! There are times when that command seems ludicrous.

How can you not worry? Where does the faith come from to avoid the worry? How can God expect us to have that much faith?

Faith comes from seeing God act. It comes from previous experience with Him. The longer we dwell with God and the longer we rely on Him the more we see that He is faithful.

We do not have to worry because God is taking care of us. God is protecting us. Just as a good parent protects and provides for his children, our Father in Heaven provides for us.

Handing over our worry to God is hard, and it is harder yet to leave it in His hands. We want to take it back up. In a strange way worry is comforting. We feel that if we worry enough we will solve the problem.

That just isn't true. Worry alone isn't going to pay those bills, make our family well, solve our child's problem. Worry gets in the way of problem solving. Worry focuses us on the problem and not on the solution. God wants to be the solution. God is the best problem solver, so why not just let Him?

Giving up worry doesn't mean that we go through life with our head in the cloud, oblivious to life, but that we go through life with our hearts focused on God. God will take care of us.

Worry steals away our power to live in the moments. It steals away our life quality. Worry is a nasty bugger, and it so easily ensnares us. It is one of Satan's favorite tools. Worry is a lack of trust in God as provider.

"Do not worry", yeah it is HARD and there are no easy solutions, other than to just remember how God has provided in the past, live wisely, pray much and focus on God. Trust and lack of worry doesn't come over night. It comes from a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly walk with God. The closer we are to Him the easier it is hand our worries to Him. Also, the closer we are to Him the more prudent we will be in our lives and the less we will have to worry about.

Do not worry. It is one of the commands that I am working on. I am working on surrendering my worries to God, and leaving them there. I am excited for the day when I can honestly say, "Thank you Lord for giving me the faith and trust to leave everything at your feet."

Next time you read those 3 words don't scoff, but pray for that kind of extraordinary faith.

-JP-