Why trust when you can worry!?!

“God has great things in store for His people; they ought to have large expectations.”   Charles Spurgeon

  If you’re like most people, you probably worry about your weight.  That might not be at the top of your list, but according to a recent survey, that’s the #1 concern for most people. Here are the Top Ten Worries (counting down from #10 to #1) according to this survey: #10 Diet. #9 Job security. #8 Rent/mortgage payment. #7 Credit card debt. #6 Low energy level. #5 Overdrafts and loans. #4 Overall fitness. #3 Lack of savings/financial future. #2 Growing old. #1 Being overweight.

  Yet, notice something about this list. First, these concerns primarily fall into two categories – health and finances. Second, these are universal human concerns. Finally, these are issues which will be with us as long as we live. You’re going to have to die in order to stop being concerned about your money and your health.

  Have you ever wondered how much time you spend worrying? It’s probably more than you think. That same survey asked people how much time they spend worrying and here’s what they discovered. Each week, we spend 14.31 hours worrying. That equals 744 hours of worry each year, which turns into 45,243 hours of worry over a lifetime, which equals 1885 days in a lifetime spent doing nothing but worrying. Ultimately, we spend 5.2 years of life enslaved by worry. Is it any wonder that we have trouble sleeping? Or, that we feel under so much pressure and often find it so hard to concentrate? For most of us, it’s not just one thing, it’s multiple concerns all wrapped up together. It’s our job, school, money, work, health, bills to pay, your husband, your wife, your ex, the in-laws, the kids…on and on it goes. Any one issue we could handle or even two, but when you get three or four together, your knees start to buckle.

  To worry is to “give way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.” The word comes from the Old English wyrgan, which means “to strangle or to seize by the throat.” That’s a helpful image, because we’ve all felt the pressure of worry choking us, squeezing the life out of us. Some folk who are consumed by worry will wonder if they’re possibly having a heart attack because of a tightness in their chest.

  Yet, God has called us to be the people of faith. Faith and worry are arch enemies. Worry is the enemy of a relationship with God. You can’t go to heaven without taking God at His Word, that the death of His Son, Jesus was sufficient to pay for all of your sins. If you want God’s blessing, His approval on your life…if our church wants His blessing, then we must trust Him. Hebrew 11:6 admonishes us that “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” What does it mean then to live by faith, to truly trust God? The consistent pattern of God’s Word is that….

  Trusting God means that we’re obedient. The life of faith isn’t complex. It begins with obeying the truth we already know. It means repenting of sin and doing what we know the Bible teaches is right. It means consistently reading the instruction manual, the Bible.

  And true faith always leads to decisive action. Noah believed God and built an Ark. Abraham left everyone and everything he knew because God told him to. The early church shared a message that cost them, not just their livelihood, but often their lives. So what are the areas of obedience that you’re neglecting? You won’t be free from worry until you first obey. God’s blessings are on those who obey.

  Wonderfully, those who trusted God left behind an inheritance of faith. Each of us is given just one life. We leave behind an abundance of memories for those who love us. So what will your family and friends, your children and grandchildren know about a life of faith by their memories of your life? How will you be remembered? Will you be remembered for your faith?

  Living by faith can be like driving in a fog. When driving though a heavy fog, you can’t see that far in front of you but you keep on driving anyway, believing that what you can’t see, you will see once you get there. When you move forward one hundred feet, you can see one hundred more feet than you could not see before. Thus, you keep going until you reach your destination, driving by faith.

  Trusting God means that we’re patient. Many believers in the Bible and even throughout Church History didn’t see the fruition of their faith in their lifetime. God promised Abraham that he’d be the father of a great nation. When he died, he only had Isaac…not exactly a great nation. But God kept His promise.

  Satan tempts us to live for the here and now, to focus and worry about today. We spend money and time seeking to ward off poor health and death. We save for retirement and build up our 401Ks…and there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you’re not a fool and living only for temporary healthy and wealth. When our focus is just on the possessions of the here and now, they distract us from the walk of faith. Living for this world is like preserving and storing up the leaves which are going to fall off the trees in a few weeks. If you’re a believer, this world is not your home. You’re just a leaf on a tree, here today…gone tomorrow. Wise people in faith live for the eternal Home built by God. But it means waiting, not as long as most of us think, yet it still means waiting in faith, trusting God.

  Sometimes we feel like our lives have been put on hold. Waiting is one of the godly life’s greatest disciplines. As we wait in faith for the fulfillment of God’s promises, we must remember that “waiting time is never wasted time.” God is working even while we wait. Sometimes He’s testing us and growing us spiritually. True faith is waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises in His timing, and He always keeps His promises.

  Trusting God means that we’re willing to sacrifice. True faith is always willing to sacrifice. Abraham demonstrated that willingness when he laid on the altar the most precious thing in his life, his son. What’s the most important thing in your life? God will never settle for being second place in your life. He’s only interested in being in first place in your life and won’t settle for anything less.

  Corrie Ten Boom said that she’d learned to hold the things of this world loosely in her hand, because she knew that if she grasped them tightly, the Lord would have to pry her fingers away and it would hurt. Is there anything you’re clinging to, trying to withhold from God? Is there anything that it’s going to hurt if God has to pry it out of your hands?

  Jesus must be Lord of all or He’s not Lord at all. You and I will never give up anything for God that God will not repay many, many times over. True faith means that we’re obedient, patient and willing to sacrifice. 

Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com. 

I've never regretted being too kind

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see”  Mark Twain

  Recently, my son, Ben, and I were out for breakfast together. It was a restaurant in the Milwaukee area that was new to us. Neither of us had been there before. Earlier that morning we’d been at a book sale. As we always do after a book sale, we went out afterwards. We’d gotten up early to be at the book sale on time so were a bit tired. It was also a chance to celebrate that Ben has been seizure free for eight years. Eight years ago Ben had brain surgery and has been seizure free since. As you can imagine, even eight years later, it’s still a big deal for Ben and our family.

  Because it was a new restaurant, the menu was unfamiliar and it was an unusual menu, so we both had some difficulty determining what to order. Ben, (I have his permission to share this), has Asperger’s Syndrome. As a result, often Ben doesn’t pick up on social cues and he has some difficulty processing or making decisions when something is unfamiliar to him.

  I’m not sure if our waitress was having a bad day but she bordered on being rude. Ben wanted both eggs and pancakes but pancakes weren’t listed on the menu, other than as a child’s menu item, so he was having some difficulty determining what he wanted. She became very impatient with our indecision. Then, Ben had trouble communicating what he wanted. When she asked how many eggs he wanted. His response, “Two or three eggs” was totally unacceptable and she was a bit curt. He was completely lost on how to place a side order of pancakes when it wasn’t listed on the menu – Ben’s world tends to be black and white.

  Because we want Ben to have a normal life, we rarely intervene. Most of us would have communicated to her either verbally or non-verbally that she was pushing the envelope or even, if needed, asked to see the manager. Social pressure tends to paralyze Ben. He concludes that he must be doing something wrong and becomes apologetic. As we were on our way home, Ben and I discussed what had happened. I pointed out that as the server, since he’s the customer, it’s a server’s responsibility to be polite and patient. If Ben had been rude or obnoxious, her curtness might have been justified. Instead, he was just a little confused and indecisive. Rather than feeling that he’d done something wrong, the server was in the wrong.

  Obviously, I don’t know this woman’s spiritual situation. What saddens me is though is that I’ve seen the same curtness and impatience among Christians – and I’m guilty too. When we’re guilty of being unkind, we’re disobeying God’s Word and sinning. Ephesians 4:32 commands us, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted…”

  One can’t judge motives yet I wonder if our unkindness is rooted in pride. Because we know the right information or have social skills, we arrogantly conclude we’re better than those who lack them. Though Jesus was omniscient, He was the humblest and kindest man who’s ever walked this earth. You and I are called to be like Jesus, and He was never unkind.

  Kindness is to be one of the distinguishing and unfortunately, unusual marks of a Christ-follower in a cold, cruel world. Because of sin, we’re all broken and lacking in some area. None of us have our act together. Most of us aren’t as skilled or as intelligent as we think we are. For example, Aaron Rogers is very skilled on the gridiron, yet hand him a scalpel, put him in a surgeon’s gown and in an operating room…well, let’s just say I hope I’m not the one he’s “practicing medicine” on. We all have limited knowledge.

  If anyone should be kind and patient with those who have disabilities, it should be those of us who personally know the One who healed disabilities when He walked this earth. In a broken world, we increasingly will encounter those who are “dysfunctional” and lack normal social skills. The more that the traditional family disintegrates, there will be a corresponding increase in a lack of social skills.

  Perhaps you have friends who are deficient in social boundaries. They lack an understanding of what’s appropriate or inappropriate to say. They don’t understand timing. For example, asking someone a very personal question in a public setting is inappropriate, yet they’re often oblivious to etiquette. And that’s where we can demonstrate kindness, either by overlooking the fault or if we’re their friend, privately and kindly sharing some insights on appropriateness.

  As an adult child of an addict, I struggle with “normal.” Because it was my family history, I thought it was “normal” to always have a big family fight at Christmas. When Jane and I were first married, I was very uncomfortable at Christmas because everyone was getting along and enjoying themselves. Then, the Lord opened my eyes to see that my “normal” wasn’t.

  Believers should be the kindest of people, after all we’ve experienced so much unlimited and undeserved kindness from our loving Heavenly Father. A lost world sees a weakness and it’s as if there’s blood in the water. Sometimes, tragically, we go along with the cruelty. More often, we just observe yet stay at a safe distance, never becoming involved. Not only do we not intervene for the victim and discourage the cruelty, we fail to minister to the one who’s been hurt. All of us can help bind up wounds and encourage the one who’s been emotionally bludgeoned. Our biblical model is the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10. Like him, we must be willing to give of ourselves, take a risk and make an investment in someone else’s battered life. It may be touching the life of someone who has disabilities, physical or social. Maybe it’s just going out of our way to be kind to an older person. It might be being patient with someone who lacks social skills. It may include discipling and mentoring an immature brother or sister in the faith. Think about this – everything that we know someone else taught us. Someone invested in us. Let’s be kind and invest generationally for His glory in the lives of others, especially those who have the greatest need for patience and kindness.  

Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com.