Worrying

Today I am trying something different. Not sure why, just felt like it. Today I am doing my own church service of sorts. Got a set list of music and sang along. Music was 1) Hosanna, 2) O, Praise Him, 3) Come Thou Fount, 4) Revelation Song, and 5) Lord I Lift Your Name On High. Now for a sermon!

Today's message from Darrell is about worrying. I'll just write my thoughts as he speaks.Matthew 6:25-34 speaks on worrying. Seems like most people out there are prone to worry. It's destructive and shows God to be untrustworthy, unkind and not very powerful. As I've know it can branch into other sins, such as greed, fear, dishonesty, anger. Worry chokes out the Word of God from our hearts. I think it also has a tendency to be one of the sins that most people gloss over instead of confronting it head on. Worrying can mean stress, being distracted, anxiety. It can be over the future, the present, the past. Jesus commands us to get rid of it. Interestingly enough there is a good kind of anxiety. From what I understand this is what "concern" is. Makes sense. We should have concern for the care, needs, and interest of other people. Sinful worry is when we freak out about stuff over which we have no control. It's okay to plan out stuff but once we do all that worrying should be put aside.

So how do we overcome that worry? The greater gift implies the lesser gift. God gave us a body and a soul, therefore He will take care of the lesser part, ie He'll provide for that soul and body. God gave us a soul and body for so much more than just eating and drinking and getting dressed for the day. Worrying about provisions is trivial compared to our goal, our mission of being on earth. We still work, we still care, have concerns and we still have responsibilities. What an interesting thought : God is able to feed 200-400 billion birds every single day. A bird eats its own body weight of food every day. That's a hundred million tons of food. If God can do that can He not feed us humans whom He gave a SOUL and a body? No other creature on earth has a soul like ours. And that's just the birds he spoke of in the passage. That doesn't include all the other species which He created as well. Another interesting idea : instinct = God. When an animal has that instinct to just simply know what to do in a certain situation, well, that's God who allows that. Darrell goes on to speak of how every detail in the universe is controlled directly by God every single day. WOW! How big is God! Every blade of grass that grows He controls. And if He has THAT MUCH power how is it that we continue to worry about the most trivial of things? Simply put, God feeds the birds, we are worth much more than a bird.We cannot dilute ourselves into thinking that there is no difference between us and animals. How much did God pay for us? A bird is worth next to nothing yet He DIED FOR US ON A CROSS. He gave away His only Son for us! When you pay a lot for something you take care of it, you don't just trash it. God paid the ultimate price for each and every human being on earth, both in the past, the present, and the future.

God doesn't promise to eliminate suffering. All the things we worry about and are afraid of are possible. He said there would be trials and tribulations. However, God promises that tomorrow He will still be God. If He continues to feed the birds He will continue to take care of us who mean so much more than the birds. God's yoke is easy, His burden is light. "The Lord is with me. What can man do to me that shall make me afraid?"

It's nice when things correspond between messages that I listen to. Something like worrying about if we'll be happy in the future can be taken care of by looking to God, by loving Him and receiving your joy from Him. And that's what I have been learning recently. What a great message on worry. I've read all this stuff before and learned it before but sometimes God speaks and stirs our spirit so powerfully that it just makes so much more sense.