Post 6...Tea, Sand and Matthew 6:25-27

                                   

                              

Matthew 6:25-27 New International Version (NIV)

Do Not Worry

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[a]? 


                    I'm a worrier, I have always been....so when I first really read this bible passage it was difficult for me to swallow.  I guess the "worry" came with the territory.  I grew up in a rough kind of scary area of New York City. I worried when my brothers were out. I worried about my Dad and Mom. When my Dad was laid off I stayed awake worrying about being homeless (though my Dad never missed a bill or rent). Later on I worried about my boyfriend (later my Hubby) who was in the army and was deployed several times.
My worrying went into overdrive when we had our children. The first day we had our daughter home from the hospital I called the doctor...

            "Hi Doctor, on the pamphlet I received from the hospital it says to call if the baby has really explosive gas...she does...is there something wrong with my baby?" I was seriously asking a doctor about my child's farts!"

         He patiently asked "Are you breast feeding?"

            "Yes" I answered

            When He found out that I had eaten tomato sauce and a whole lot of gas producing foods he simply said "Well there ya go. Stop eating those foods and she should be ok, remember she is essentially ingesting what you eat." 

I felt like an idiot, and I'm sure I sounded like one too. When the baby slept I worried that she wouldn't wake up and when she was awake I worried that I would never get her to sleep...ever! 

I find that most of the things I worry about are unfounded. The night before my child went to kindergarten I dreamt that someone stole the bus just to kidnap all the children. I woke in a sweat and when it came time for my baby to get on the bus....I raced to my car and followed it to the school and waited in the parking lot with all the other scared parents to see that my child got off the bus and entered the school. I wondered if I would do that today? Now that I have been baptized and have learned so much about God's word...and it says NOT to worry! I wonder if I would still race to my car to see her walk into school?  Would I worry all day? maybe. 

Keith Krell (a senior Pastor working in Spokane, WA) writes in his post titled 

Lifestyles of the Content & Worry-Free (Matthew 6:25-34) 

"There’s a difference between concern and worry. Concern is when you can do something to help a situation, so you do what you can do. Worry is when you can’t do something, but you don’t want to leave it up to God. In other words, worry is concern gone haywire."

Alrighty then, I think I may be making some progress....because when I have done all that I can to avoid catastrophe or mistakes and I still feel that pang of worry I do pray. I do try to give it up to God. I'm getting better at this. The times that I don't...I find myself choking on worry and anxiety. This bible verse speaks to me and lets me know that I have to give that worry up, because as it says in verse 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?

The answer of course is NO. So if it is not useful as "concern" and the Bible says that we shouldn't worry...Why do we? Why do I? It's empty and bottomless. It makes you feel alone and lost. There is no reward to worrying. Do I think I am stronger than God? Do I have more answers than God? NO!

I look at a church in India that my church sponsors and I am humbled at their trust in God. They are poor and trust that God will provide what they need and HE DOES! They live in a place where they can get arrested for believing in Christ yet they worship and praise HIM. Some have families that have disowned them and yet they trust God. There in that worship and praise is where I need to be. I need to Trust HIM. Reading this bible verse helps to remind me and I hope it helps you today. 

Don't worry; He's got you!

Blessings, Joanne