Every day when I look out my back slider I see this bird’s nest. I’ve never seen its owner, but some little bird made it at some point. The other day when I looked out, I was reminded of this verse……
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 important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 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, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:25-34
Last month I wrote about how God was teaching me about trusting Him in all things and all circumstances. This month God has been speaking to me about worry, the emotions and thoughts that prevent me from trusting Him. If there was a worry contest, I’m pretty sure I would win the grand prize. And on a side note, if there was a job as a professional sleeper I’m pretty sure I could get employee of the month every month. Back to worry…..
One of the things I’ve struggled worrying about is our home. Like MANY Americans we are in the process of a loan modification. A modification that likely won’t be helpful enough and will lead to a foreclosure (but who knows, God is in control of it). To give you a quick background, when we bought our house I was working full time as a counseling secretary in a high school. I decided to quit to pursue a Masters Degree in School Counseling, something I had considered for years. School loans would cover the extra income we needed until graduation. Shortly before the first quarter we found out we were expecting our first child. News we were thrilled about after struggling with infertility for two years. On the first day of orientation I told the director of the program who advised me to wait until after having the baby to continue my education. So there we were, no job, no school loans, and a hefty mortgage payment. After Mason was born I worked two part time jobs that some generous friends provided. Those helped, but we were still slowly eating away our savings.
It saddens me to think about moving. This is the only home Mason has known and we will have gone through two pregnancies here. However, I know there is a lesson in this too. When you strip away all the feelings and memories attached to this house and get down to the basics, does it really matter where we live? God will provide us with what we need. All we need to do is keep our focus on Him. And really wherever we end up living is only temporary. Our real home is in heaven waiting for us to arrive.
So why bother worrying about things we can’t control anyways. There is absolutely no benefit to it and we can’t trust in God and worry at the same time. If I have the choice to either worry about something that I can’t do anything about or give it over to the Creator of the universe, then I’m gonna hand it over (I’m going to try anyways:)). I imagine in my mind that God receives it as a gift from us, a gift with a tag that says, “God I choose to trust You”.
I recently listened to a podcast sermon online about worry. In the message the pastor spoke about an acronym on how to not be a worry WART. I won’t go into detail, but here is the acronym.
W – WATCH your focus (don’t focus on the problem, instead focus on the problem solver)
A- ACCEPT the providence of God
R-REPLACE your priorities (are you seeking out things of this world or are you seeking out the kingdom of God and His righteousness)
T-TODAY prevails (don’t worry about tomorrow)
I debated talking about this for a couple reasons. One, I know finances are a very private topic for many and two, I didn’t want it to come across as a plea for sympathy because that really isn’t my intent. In the end though, this is what God kept putting on my heart.
Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength. Corrie Ten Boom
I heard this song the other day and thought it was fitting.
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