I've decided to start putting the topic in the heading. Mostly for me. You're welcome.
This week's lesson, word, what have you is one that was just pretty much laid on my heart. I'll share with you the sequence of events as it happened to me.
I read this verse today about a "childlike heart":
Mark 10:15
Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
Translation: Adults... get over yourselves.
That sounds harsh, but that is exactly what I see in this verse. I'll put it into a day to day interaction for you.
My son loves me. He thinks I am amazing. When he is upset, he wants me to hold him. He loves to play with me. He comes to me when he is hungry. He wants me to hold him when he is hurt or sick. When he accomplishes something new, he wants me to know about it first.
And that is what God wants from us. God should be the first person we go to when we are upset, hungry, thirsty, hurt, or sick. We should celebrate with God first when we accomplish something new and exciting. We should spend time with God not only when we need something or have something to be excited about, but also, just because He is our Father.
Which brings me to forgiveness.
This part was just laid upon my heart because I am so guilty of this.
When I tell Sam "No", it makes him mad. He cries and sometimes has a fit. But within 5 minutes, he is showing me something he found under the couch. He forgives just as quickly as he gets mad.
Why don't adults do this?
I know why. Because we are jaded. We are sick and tired of people treating us badly, repeatedly doing the same things to us. Or we are baffled at how moronic some people can be. And, how did they even think any of that was okay?
Have you caught yourself saying this...
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Or how about this one...
They may have gotten away with it this time, but they will never cross me again!
We are all guilty of thinking these things, professing these things, even preaching these things. And yet, that is not what God wants from us.
Just as we should have faith like a child, we should forgive like a child.
There isn't a verse in the Bible that I know of that tells us being angry is a sin. It is what you do with that anger that is the problem.
So when people anger you, be mad. But be quick to forgive. Forgive like our Father forgives us.
Do you not think Jesus was not treated badly while on Earth? And yet, he forgave. Every time.
Do you not think Jesus is steal treated badly even unto this day? Even after all He has done for the world? And yet, he forgives still. Every time.
Matthew 6:15
But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Luke 17:4
Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.
I urge you to let go of the unforgiveness in your heart right now. Seek the strength from your Father if you find yourself holding on.
Happy Tuesday!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Testimony Tuesday
This week's Testimony Tuesday has been a bit of a struggle.
After a lot of thinking/praying/meditating/obsessing over it, God kind of led me to share a personal story this week.
Last semester, I was struggling with my job. Not in a "I hate my job" kind of way, but in a "I can't seem to get ahead! Why can't I get anything done! I'm failing at my job!" kind of way.
I had these thoughts for several weeks and it seemed like I was constantly working and just not getting anywhere.
One of my staff members randomly showed up in my office one day to ask how I was. I was honestly fine. There was nothing going wrong that day, I hadn't been upset that day... everything really was fine.
So I told her that. She then proceeded to shut my door and tell me that God had a message for me.
To say I was confused would be a massive understatement. I actually thought to myself, "She must be mistaken. There's nothing going on right now."
But, she went on. She opened with a prayer. Then she took me by the hand and proceeded to tell me the following (I have left out A LOT because it just isn't pertinent to the message today.)
God wants you to know that you have been placed here at UALR for a reason. You have supernatural strength in family, harmony, and compassion. God opened up this place for you here to utilize those strengths.
God wants you to know that you are not failing at your job. There are evil spirits in this office trying to distract you and discourage you from fulfulling your mission for Christ.
God also wants you to know that when you feel those nudges from Him to pray with students, that He is providing the protection for you and stop ignoring Him. He knows you are leery of mixing work and religion but He will protect you and is providing you these opportunities.
Your office has been established as a place of peace. Sometimes people find themselves here not understanding exactly why they came.
As I said earlier, she went on diving into some really personal information that I honestly didn't even realize was an issue until she gave me God's message. I cried and cried and cried. And I was so encouraged.
I know everyone doesn't get that sort of message from God. I truly believe God communicates to people in many different ways depending on the person's needs at the time. And as I stated earlier, I didn't have the foggiest idea that I needed that.
What is my point in all of this? Other than... look how great God is!?
Spiritual warfare is real. It is kind of a taboo topic to talk about. But who am I to avoid a taboo topic?
We prayed together that day and rebuked the spirits from my office. I was then told this would be a constant battle because of the work God is doing at my job. Every day I am to come into my office, pray, rebuke any spirits, and go on about my day. And I am telling you, it has worked.
People do find themselves in my office for no apparent reason. They have since I've worked here. I just chalked it up to, "Well I'm pretty awesome. Who can blame them?"
Turns out, I am awesome, but that's not necessarily why they are coming. And I'm only awesome because God made me that way. Ask anyone, before I was seeking God, I wasn't a whole big hoopla of fun to be around. At least, "peaceful" wasn't a way to describe the experience.
---------------LONG PAUSE-----------------------------
The long pause was to denote a break in this blog post where I had a conversation with a friend. This friend has been searching for a mission opportunity for a while now. And was so very excited about an opportunity that recently presented itself. She had time to get really excited about it, only to find out she didn't qualify for that particular opportunity.
And this broke her heart. She was terribly upset about this "lost" opportunity. And she had just recently come around to begrudgingly trusting God and letting go of her disappointment.
Enter today. Today, I hung out with her for lunch, and we worked together on some things, and were working on some things via chat and I just got this sense that she was struggling. I couldn't put my finger on it, and she insisted she was fine (which she tells me when she isn't so I believed her).
All of the sudden God had a message for her through me. I typed it. It was simple:
God is telling you to trust Him fully. He has an experience beyond your imagination planned for you.
Now, to reiterate, to my knowledge, she had given her trust back to God and accepted that the "opportunity" wasn't the right one.
She cried. And cried. And realized she wasn't trusting God. And it was a beautiful moment to her. I'm so thankful for that.
Even as I type, God is revealing to me that evil spirits were bringing her down. That is the thing with the devil. He will use anything, even Godly matters, to bring down someone on their mission for Christ. Anything!
So while you may think I sound crazy, but I assure you, spiritual warfare is real. Is it something you are struggling with? When you feel frustrated for no reason? When you can tell something just isn't right and you don't know what?
The devil is scared of God given talents and missions. And he will use everything in his power to keep you from using those talents and completing those missions.
When you find yourself caught in this struggle, stop and pray. And pray hard. I was told once that when rebuking spirits, you have to be loud because they are hard of hearing. I think that just draws up the passion. But do it.
A few verses for encouragement:
Luke 10:19-20 "Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don't rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven."
Romans 8:38 "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love."
Happy Tuesday!
After a lot of thinking/praying/meditating/obsessing over it, God kind of led me to share a personal story this week.
Last semester, I was struggling with my job. Not in a "I hate my job" kind of way, but in a "I can't seem to get ahead! Why can't I get anything done! I'm failing at my job!" kind of way.
I had these thoughts for several weeks and it seemed like I was constantly working and just not getting anywhere.
One of my staff members randomly showed up in my office one day to ask how I was. I was honestly fine. There was nothing going wrong that day, I hadn't been upset that day... everything really was fine.
So I told her that. She then proceeded to shut my door and tell me that God had a message for me.
To say I was confused would be a massive understatement. I actually thought to myself, "She must be mistaken. There's nothing going on right now."
But, she went on. She opened with a prayer. Then she took me by the hand and proceeded to tell me the following (I have left out A LOT because it just isn't pertinent to the message today.)
God wants you to know that you have been placed here at UALR for a reason. You have supernatural strength in family, harmony, and compassion. God opened up this place for you here to utilize those strengths.
God wants you to know that you are not failing at your job. There are evil spirits in this office trying to distract you and discourage you from fulfulling your mission for Christ.
God also wants you to know that when you feel those nudges from Him to pray with students, that He is providing the protection for you and stop ignoring Him. He knows you are leery of mixing work and religion but He will protect you and is providing you these opportunities.
Your office has been established as a place of peace. Sometimes people find themselves here not understanding exactly why they came.
As I said earlier, she went on diving into some really personal information that I honestly didn't even realize was an issue until she gave me God's message. I cried and cried and cried. And I was so encouraged.
I know everyone doesn't get that sort of message from God. I truly believe God communicates to people in many different ways depending on the person's needs at the time. And as I stated earlier, I didn't have the foggiest idea that I needed that.
What is my point in all of this? Other than... look how great God is!?
Spiritual warfare is real. It is kind of a taboo topic to talk about. But who am I to avoid a taboo topic?
We prayed together that day and rebuked the spirits from my office. I was then told this would be a constant battle because of the work God is doing at my job. Every day I am to come into my office, pray, rebuke any spirits, and go on about my day. And I am telling you, it has worked.
People do find themselves in my office for no apparent reason. They have since I've worked here. I just chalked it up to, "Well I'm pretty awesome. Who can blame them?"
Turns out, I am awesome, but that's not necessarily why they are coming. And I'm only awesome because God made me that way. Ask anyone, before I was seeking God, I wasn't a whole big hoopla of fun to be around. At least, "peaceful" wasn't a way to describe the experience.
---------------LONG PAUSE-----------------------------
The long pause was to denote a break in this blog post where I had a conversation with a friend. This friend has been searching for a mission opportunity for a while now. And was so very excited about an opportunity that recently presented itself. She had time to get really excited about it, only to find out she didn't qualify for that particular opportunity.
And this broke her heart. She was terribly upset about this "lost" opportunity. And she had just recently come around to begrudgingly trusting God and letting go of her disappointment.
Enter today. Today, I hung out with her for lunch, and we worked together on some things, and were working on some things via chat and I just got this sense that she was struggling. I couldn't put my finger on it, and she insisted she was fine (which she tells me when she isn't so I believed her).
All of the sudden God had a message for her through me. I typed it. It was simple:
God is telling you to trust Him fully. He has an experience beyond your imagination planned for you.
Now, to reiterate, to my knowledge, she had given her trust back to God and accepted that the "opportunity" wasn't the right one.
She cried. And cried. And realized she wasn't trusting God. And it was a beautiful moment to her. I'm so thankful for that.
Even as I type, God is revealing to me that evil spirits were bringing her down. That is the thing with the devil. He will use anything, even Godly matters, to bring down someone on their mission for Christ. Anything!
So while you may think I sound crazy, but I assure you, spiritual warfare is real. Is it something you are struggling with? When you feel frustrated for no reason? When you can tell something just isn't right and you don't know what?
The devil is scared of God given talents and missions. And he will use everything in his power to keep you from using those talents and completing those missions.
When you find yourself caught in this struggle, stop and pray. And pray hard. I was told once that when rebuking spirits, you have to be loud because they are hard of hearing. I think that just draws up the passion. But do it.
A few verses for encouragement:
Luke 10:19-20 "Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don't rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven."
Romans 8:38 "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love."
Happy Tuesday!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Testimony Tuesday
I love God's timeliness with messages to me.
First, I would like to confess something to all my lovelies out there on the interwebs.
I do not read my Bible every day. I, in fact, rarely read my Bible.
This is a constant struggle for me for a couple of reasons.
1) Finding time. It is not a struggle for me to find the time to read. While I'm fully awake, I know, rationally, that I could get up 30 minutes early and get my daily word in. And then that time comes. And immediate gratification by staying in the warm bed under the covers just outweighs getting up.
2) Sleepiness. When I wake up, reading is not the first thing I want to do. I'm still sleepy and I struggle to stay concentrated enough to absorb the message. And after I'm done... I want to go back to bed.
3) Comparing myself to others. I am a competitive person by nature which means I can make anything a competition. But competition tends to just be an incessant game of comparing myself to others. And what do I get? I don't measure up to those that are actually reading their Bibles everyday. So I constantly beat myself up over it, tell myself I'll get up in the morning, then I don't and instead stay under the covers, then I feel guilty... you see my process.
And lo and behold! God got on to me for this.
I know. You're shocked.
So for today's lesson in "Rikki get your act together then share it with the world because they too are struggling with it, I just know it":
Galatians 4: 5-6
Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.
I recieved this word through a series of events I won't bore you with now. But, I did have this urge to read the Bible. I mean, I needed it. Almost like you are thirsty for water. (If you've had that feeling too, and wonder why you are weird, it is because God has a message for you. Funny how that works.)
So I open my Bible and decide I need to skim through Galatians. Well Galatians is short but it packs a wallup. Go read it. You'll see.
I ended up reading the entire book. Before you get all impressed, it is 6 chapters long. One chapter of Harry Potter took longer to read.
But when I got to Chapter 6: 4-5, I actually giggled out loud. Justin thought I was crazy.
But how many of you are guilty of it? Constantly comparing yourself to others... and getting one of two results:
1) Not measuring up, effectively stirring the cycle of low self-esteem/failure.
2) Becoming prideful. (Because let's face it, you'd never be like THAT person.)
I know I struck a nerve with that last one. Because you didn't think that was coming.
Both of these ways are sinful. And keep us from the joy of God. And if you know me, you know how awful I am in both of these areas.
But what God shared with me and continues to reveal to me as I meditate on these verses, is that to compare ourselves to others and stack ourselves against them is only telling God that we aren't pleased with His creation. That we don't trust Him that we are beautiful creatures of Christ, just as the other people are.
I'm reminding myself constantly now that God made me who I am for a reason. I may not be a great housekeeper and I may not be a marathon runner and I may be just a bit snarky at times... but dammit... I'm beautiful and I have so many God given talents that my "shortcomings" don't matter. So why continue to let them hold me back?
I'll pursue my relationship with God at my pace and I'll leave it between me and God if it is good enough.
I'll put my confidence in God that my son is developing on time for his life and stop making sure he is still "ahead" in these areas and not "behind" in those.
I'll embrace my strengths at work and use my God given talents to make the differences God gave me the strength to make without bringing myself down with what I don't do well.
I'll love others just as God taught me too and stop pointing out to myself how I'm better at them that this but worse than them in that.
And I'll mess it up. Because I'm human. And I serve a forgiving God that will work with me to get back on track.
Isn't that great? Happy testimony Tuesday!
First, I would like to confess something to all my lovelies out there on the interwebs.
I do not read my Bible every day. I, in fact, rarely read my Bible.
This is a constant struggle for me for a couple of reasons.
1) Finding time. It is not a struggle for me to find the time to read. While I'm fully awake, I know, rationally, that I could get up 30 minutes early and get my daily word in. And then that time comes. And immediate gratification by staying in the warm bed under the covers just outweighs getting up.
2) Sleepiness. When I wake up, reading is not the first thing I want to do. I'm still sleepy and I struggle to stay concentrated enough to absorb the message. And after I'm done... I want to go back to bed.
3) Comparing myself to others. I am a competitive person by nature which means I can make anything a competition. But competition tends to just be an incessant game of comparing myself to others. And what do I get? I don't measure up to those that are actually reading their Bibles everyday. So I constantly beat myself up over it, tell myself I'll get up in the morning, then I don't and instead stay under the covers, then I feel guilty... you see my process.
And lo and behold! God got on to me for this.
I know. You're shocked.
So for today's lesson in "Rikki get your act together then share it with the world because they too are struggling with it, I just know it":
Galatians 4: 5-6
Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.
I recieved this word through a series of events I won't bore you with now. But, I did have this urge to read the Bible. I mean, I needed it. Almost like you are thirsty for water. (If you've had that feeling too, and wonder why you are weird, it is because God has a message for you. Funny how that works.)
So I open my Bible and decide I need to skim through Galatians. Well Galatians is short but it packs a wallup. Go read it. You'll see.
I ended up reading the entire book. Before you get all impressed, it is 6 chapters long. One chapter of Harry Potter took longer to read.
But when I got to Chapter 6: 4-5, I actually giggled out loud. Justin thought I was crazy.
But how many of you are guilty of it? Constantly comparing yourself to others... and getting one of two results:
1) Not measuring up, effectively stirring the cycle of low self-esteem/failure.
2) Becoming prideful. (Because let's face it, you'd never be like THAT person.)
I know I struck a nerve with that last one. Because you didn't think that was coming.
Both of these ways are sinful. And keep us from the joy of God. And if you know me, you know how awful I am in both of these areas.
But what God shared with me and continues to reveal to me as I meditate on these verses, is that to compare ourselves to others and stack ourselves against them is only telling God that we aren't pleased with His creation. That we don't trust Him that we are beautiful creatures of Christ, just as the other people are.
I'm reminding myself constantly now that God made me who I am for a reason. I may not be a great housekeeper and I may not be a marathon runner and I may be just a bit snarky at times... but dammit... I'm beautiful and I have so many God given talents that my "shortcomings" don't matter. So why continue to let them hold me back?
I'll pursue my relationship with God at my pace and I'll leave it between me and God if it is good enough.
I'll put my confidence in God that my son is developing on time for his life and stop making sure he is still "ahead" in these areas and not "behind" in those.
I'll embrace my strengths at work and use my God given talents to make the differences God gave me the strength to make without bringing myself down with what I don't do well.
I'll love others just as God taught me too and stop pointing out to myself how I'm better at them that this but worse than them in that.
And I'll mess it up. Because I'm human. And I serve a forgiving God that will work with me to get back on track.
Isn't that great? Happy testimony Tuesday!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Blogging from phone: Take one.
Taking down wallpaper just may be the stuff hell is made of. We thought we'd be done today. We were wrong. Just when I thought I couldn't curse the bastard that put that mess up any more, I get into the master bathroom.
Sailors haven't experienced thoughts as unholy as mine as I continue to steam and scrape my life away. Cranky doesn't begin to describe my mood right now.
But on a higher note, we are going to end up with one kick awesome (thats for you Mr. Allen) bathroom. Our floor/tile guy is amazing and is giving us a really good deal ona really cool concept.
More to come later.
Sailors haven't experienced thoughts as unholy as mine as I continue to steam and scrape my life away. Cranky doesn't begin to describe my mood right now.
But on a higher note, we are going to end up with one kick awesome (thats for you Mr. Allen) bathroom. Our floor/tile guy is amazing and is giving us a really good deal ona really cool concept.
More to come later.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Testimony Tuesday
God has been telling me for a little while that blogging could be a way to witness to others. Now I do not consider myself an "evangelical Christian," at least by the stereotype anyway, but I do like to live by example and spread my testimony when possible and will make an impact.
This is how "Testimony Tuesday" was born. Expect it every Tuesday. This will be a tool for me to keep on track with the many blessings God has given me and will be a good way to share to those unknown on the interwebs something that may be pertinent to them at the time.
Topic of today: Worry.
I have had ample opportunity to worry over this past year. Having a kid gives you that sort of access. And I have worried. I'd like to say that I haven't but truth hurts sometimes.
I have worried over fevers, and infected eyes, and breastfeeding, and formula, and daycare, and croup, and big ole heads, and specialist appointments, and milestones. Then I've worried about promotions and whether they would happen, buying houses and if we'd find the right one, and if my car would be dependable... There is always something.
As most of you know, my husband struggles with anxiety. He is an amazing man, and I honestly don't tell him that enough, and I am super proud of him. He has made great strides in his anxiety and to be honest, he has earned the right by human standards to worry (I'll leave it to him to share with you the ins and outs of his official "certificate to worry" he earned in his childhood).
But alas, we are both sinning by continuing to worry. Matthew 6:25-34 clearly states:
25 “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 than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 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? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
I challenge you to read that again. And again. Looking back on all the things I have worried about, it was when I finally let them go and gave them completely to God that all of the sudden they worked out.
Sam's big ole head: I knew he was fine. But I allowed the enemy in and doubt began to fester. What if I am wrong? Why does he have to see a specialist? Blah blah blah. And then, one day I gave it to God. I told God that I knew he loved Sam more than I ever could, and since I knew how much I loved him, that I knew there was no way God was going to allow this mess to continue. And I thanked Him for that promise. And it was hard. But I did it. Two days later we were in the pediatrician's office being told he was normal and we no longer needed to see a specialist. Amen? I think so.
Buying a house is a pretty big deal. When we first starting looking, we found this house in a great neighborhood for a great price. But I worried. What if it had problems? Could we afford it? What work needed to be done? Could we afford it? Can my family live on ramen and hot dogs? We looked at this house on two different occasions and on both occasions I would lose sleep at night worrying about it. Neither of those times worked out. We started looking at houses again in January. I made a commitment to not worry about it. We found a house we loved in a neighborhood we loved for a price we loved. We were told it wouldn't work out. Buying directly from the seller never works. This won't work. That won't work. I never worried.
If you know me, you know spending money is a creative way to torture me. It makes me sick, literally. When we bought a car, I darn near threw up right there on the showroom floor. Spending money stresses me out. I have been cool, calm, and collected throughout this buying process.
Until I allowed myself to worry about the roof. And I had a hysterical breakdown, thought about not buying the house because of it... a whole bunch of garb for nothing. What was that? The devil getting his thorny little foot in the door. That's it. You know what? When I decided to not worry about it anymore, all things fell into place. Praise God? I believe so.
We did buy the house. We are working on the house now. It is a beautiful happy home that is going to be home for quite some time. And I love it. And I'm not nervous. I'm excited to go there. I'm excited to make it into exactly what we want. No fear. No worry. Praise God.
So my challenge to you is to release what you are worrying about to God. Right now. If you catch yourself worrying about something (because the enemy will bring pictures of it back to your brain), give it right back to God. It is foolish to continue to lose sleep and worry over even the smallest things all the way to the big things. Because God has already given us His promise that He will take care of us just as He takes care of the birds in the air.
If this is an area you struggle with, I have a small mini book I can email you that has a lot more information in it that is really remarkably helpful.
This is how "Testimony Tuesday" was born. Expect it every Tuesday. This will be a tool for me to keep on track with the many blessings God has given me and will be a good way to share to those unknown on the interwebs something that may be pertinent to them at the time.
Topic of today: Worry.
I have had ample opportunity to worry over this past year. Having a kid gives you that sort of access. And I have worried. I'd like to say that I haven't but truth hurts sometimes.
I have worried over fevers, and infected eyes, and breastfeeding, and formula, and daycare, and croup, and big ole heads, and specialist appointments, and milestones. Then I've worried about promotions and whether they would happen, buying houses and if we'd find the right one, and if my car would be dependable... There is always something.
As most of you know, my husband struggles with anxiety. He is an amazing man, and I honestly don't tell him that enough, and I am super proud of him. He has made great strides in his anxiety and to be honest, he has earned the right by human standards to worry (I'll leave it to him to share with you the ins and outs of his official "certificate to worry" he earned in his childhood).
But alas, we are both sinning by continuing to worry. Matthew 6:25-34 clearly states:
25 “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 than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 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? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
I challenge you to read that again. And again. Looking back on all the things I have worried about, it was when I finally let them go and gave them completely to God that all of the sudden they worked out.
Sam's big ole head: I knew he was fine. But I allowed the enemy in and doubt began to fester. What if I am wrong? Why does he have to see a specialist? Blah blah blah. And then, one day I gave it to God. I told God that I knew he loved Sam more than I ever could, and since I knew how much I loved him, that I knew there was no way God was going to allow this mess to continue. And I thanked Him for that promise. And it was hard. But I did it. Two days later we were in the pediatrician's office being told he was normal and we no longer needed to see a specialist. Amen? I think so.
Buying a house is a pretty big deal. When we first starting looking, we found this house in a great neighborhood for a great price. But I worried. What if it had problems? Could we afford it? What work needed to be done? Could we afford it? Can my family live on ramen and hot dogs? We looked at this house on two different occasions and on both occasions I would lose sleep at night worrying about it. Neither of those times worked out. We started looking at houses again in January. I made a commitment to not worry about it. We found a house we loved in a neighborhood we loved for a price we loved. We were told it wouldn't work out. Buying directly from the seller never works. This won't work. That won't work. I never worried.
If you know me, you know spending money is a creative way to torture me. It makes me sick, literally. When we bought a car, I darn near threw up right there on the showroom floor. Spending money stresses me out. I have been cool, calm, and collected throughout this buying process.
Until I allowed myself to worry about the roof. And I had a hysterical breakdown, thought about not buying the house because of it... a whole bunch of garb for nothing. What was that? The devil getting his thorny little foot in the door. That's it. You know what? When I decided to not worry about it anymore, all things fell into place. Praise God? I believe so.
We did buy the house. We are working on the house now. It is a beautiful happy home that is going to be home for quite some time. And I love it. And I'm not nervous. I'm excited to go there. I'm excited to make it into exactly what we want. No fear. No worry. Praise God.
So my challenge to you is to release what you are worrying about to God. Right now. If you catch yourself worrying about something (because the enemy will bring pictures of it back to your brain), give it right back to God. It is foolish to continue to lose sleep and worry over even the smallest things all the way to the big things. Because God has already given us His promise that He will take care of us just as He takes care of the birds in the air.
If this is an area you struggle with, I have a small mini book I can email you that has a lot more information in it that is really remarkably helpful.
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