October 28

Worry

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life.”

The past two days have been a tremendous learning experience for me. The truth I discovered is that presuppositions shape our perspectives, perspectives shape our priorities and our priorities eventually shape our practice. In other words, what we really think is eventually displayed in how we act. SO to really take an inventory of what I believe, I have to look at how I behaved. Here was my Grandpa test.

My son and pregnant daughter-in-law called our house at 5:00 am on Tuesday morning informing us that they were on the way to the hospital. As the hours dragged on my anxiety and worry levels started to elevate. We had updates every 4 to 5 hours but the waiting time in-between was difficult. By the time I woke up on Wednesday, my heart was on overload because nothing was happening. I had a difficult time focusing on my work that morning. Now in my mind I say, I trust God, but my heart was at a different place. There was a disconnection between my “creed” and my “deed” between my “talk” and my “walk.” It is far easier to preach a sermon on worry than to actually practice trusting God in the storm.

The great news is that last night I held my grandson in my arms and I think he likes me. But the test revealed that my worry muscles needed some development. I am always amazed at how God speaks so clearly to me through his word.

Here a few lessons I learned from our reading today.

I need to trust God even when I don’t feel like it. I love what Apryl said on Tuesday, “ ‘do not worry’ is a command not a suggestion.” That is why we are commanded in 1 Peter 5:7 to, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he care for you.” Even when I am struggling with worry, there is no greater activity I can do than to get on my knees and give God every worry found in my heart.

Secondly, put God first. "But seek his kingdom, and all these things shall be added to you.” I need to get my priorities straight. When I let the wrong thing be “number one” it creates an enormous amount of stress and worry in my life. Number one is not my comfort, my wants or my agenda. When I put God and his kingdom first, that is when worry takes flight. The Christian life is a transversal of values. We gain our life by losing it, we lead by serving, and we have our needs met by not worrying about them. To overcome worry we need to surrender to the kingdom plan of God. Finally, I need to give myself the “don’t give into fear talk.” “Do not be afraid little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” In verse thirty-two Jesus really gets to the bottom line, WORRY IS REALLY FEAR! Jesus tells the believers that they are to stop being afraid; it is this fear that manifests itself in our lives as worry. The antidote to fear is faith.

Ian McClaren, the great preacher of the 19th century, said, “What does your anxiety do? It does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but it does empty today of its strength. It does not make you escape the evil; it makes you unfit to cope with it when it comes. God gives us the power to bear all the sorrow of His making, but He does not guarantee to give us strength to bear the burdens of our own making such as worry induces.”

In a fallen world there will always be anxious thoughts. Jesus is asking that I overcome my worry with his truth. He is in control and I can never improve on his plan that is unfolding all across this planet. I pray that I can believe and practice that truth.

Grandpa Taylor