Week 7- 10 Questions Jesus Is Asking Christians
DON'T LOSE YOUR EVERLOVING MIND!
Question 7. "Which of you by worrying can add even a single hour onto your life?"
Read Luke 12:22-26
"Take no thought for your life." The problem is spiritual complacency in the abundance of this world’s goods. Stress, anxiety, worry...so much to do forever making bricks without straw.
What is worry? The definition is: sense of uneasiness and anxiety about the future. Scripture indicates that such anxiety is ultimately grounded in a lack of trust in God and his purposes. In another words, the inability to rest assured.
What causes worry? Being world-centered, lacking confidence in God, abandoning God, sleeplessness, depression, doubt, fear, unbelief. And all of it is the work of our enemy Satan. He uses worry to lead people away from God.
Jesus says in Luke 12:
1. Do not be anxious about your life, be God focused.
2. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothing, trust God to provide.
3. Consider how much God values your life, see yourself through God's eyes.
4. Why are you anxious? Do not doubt God's love and provisions.
5. Seek God's kingdom. Pray and trust God to hear you.
6. Provide for yourself new bags of valuables that does not grow old, does not fail, and cannot be destroyed. Put your desires into God's hands, do not try and overcome the world by storing up worldly goods as an offering hedge to the world against that same world devises. The world destroys, your worldly goods will never be enough to overcome that destructive power.
7. Wherever your treasure is stored up there your heart will also be. Our lives will never be in harmony with God and his provisions if we forsake him and his blessings in favor of the labors of this world.
Jesus says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)
God gives us rest, not restrictions. The world taxes, and is taxing. God lifts our burdens, the world enslaves us, regulates our lives, and discriminates picking winners and losers, causing divisions, wars, and death. God helps us to shape our priorities, so we can face our lives with hope in Him.
BEING PREPARED
One worrier said to another, “I have so many troubles that if anything happened to me today it would take me two weeks before I could get around to worrying about it.” We are often so worried sometimes that we don't even have time to worry. The problem is this it's too easy to let our concerns to become our cares, and our forethought's to become our forethought's.
I'm coming up on sixty one years of worrying in this life, and my learned experience is that we just need to let things go, give it a rest, forget about it. I have read that Lloyd George, former Prime Minister of England, said, “I have made it a practice of my life always to close the gate behind me.” — And I agree, that is what we need to do with the stressful things that have already happened! Just let it go and say, (in my best Italian American accent), "forget about it". And if you can't get it off your mind and can't let it go? Then pray it into obscurity. Pray it away. Pray until you forget why you're worried in the first place. My experience is that if you pray on something long enough you won't even remember what your were so damned worried about. Recount all your God given blessings, pray thanksgiving for those blessed gifts from heaven above. Always remember you are blessed when you are in God's hands.
God is sensitive to our needs — so why worry? Worry is cruel, it is cruel to think that God would care more for the flowers and birds than He would for us. God (Jesus) tells us that worrying and anxiety is useless. Worry is like a rocking chair — it gives you something to do, but it won’t get you anywhere. Worrying is what the unbelievers do. The Devil with use that fear to work you to death. So many cannot relax long enough to see God at work in their lives. They can't seem to help themselves, they've got to "DO SOMETHING!"
FINAL THOUGHTS
last night my wife and I went out to watch a balloon festival and laser light show. And the crowds going in were incredibly long and difficult to maneuver through to find parking and then a good space to set up a spot for viewing where we could comfortably sit, eat and watch the show. And it was three times as confusing and difficult when it came time to leave the event. People were arguing, pushing, rushing about here and there. Many could not simply rest assured following the given pattern for exiting. As time lingered and the lines weren't seeming to move even an inch, many got out of their vehicles and ran here, and ran there, looking for someone they could complain to, giving instructions to others, trying to turn around and take a different path they thought might give them an advantage. They just couldn't relax and trust that their time would come. In due time we finally began to see movement and sure enough we we eventually got our opportunity to exit. We followed directions and got home safely at a reasonable time. I didn't need to take a different path, loose my cool, get all pushy, meanspirited, and angry. I didn't fight it, I flowed with it. In fact, I set up my iPhone to play a comedy special and while we sat there waiting we were laughing and entertained as others were loosing their ever-loving minds in frustration.
Conclusion:
God is still on His throne. Put your sword up. Put your sword away and trust God to have already worked out a strategy out for your good and purposes. God knows the wrongs are leading to a right. Don't worry yourself sick, rest assured. Worry is like being strangled, it chokes out all goodness in us, and prevents God's blessings from being appreciated. Live one day at a time. Yesterday is over, tomorrow isn't even born, the best way to prepare for tomorrow is to fulfill the duties of today.
God bless you and keep you now and forever.