The Case Against Worry

There is no where I go that God is not there. In my home, at my job, on the streets, in my car – He is there. No matter my situation, He is there. When I am enjoying life’s mountaintop, my God is there. When I am grieving in life’s valley, He is there. When I choose to walk away, He is there. I cannot outrun Him. I cannot hide from Him. I am never and will never be alone.

He knows my thoughts. He knows my words even before I speak. He knows my dreams. He knows my fears. He knows my prayers before I pray. He made me. He carefully and skillfully crafted together all that makes me, me. He knows me better than I know myself. I cannot fool God.

I am wonderfully made by the Master of all Creation. I am His masterpiece! I am constantly in the thoughts of the Lord of all the Universe. I am His treasured love! I am held by the hands of the Mighty Protector and Defender. I am His precious child!

I have no need to worry!

Psalm 139:1-18

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A Year of Smiles – Day 291

Reason to SMILE #291: HE’S GOT YOU!

Matthew 6:25 – 26

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?  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?

Read those verses again and let that thought wash over you.

Are YOU not much MORE VALUABLE?

By the way, that question – it’s rhetorical. But in case you are unsure, the answer is “Yes! Yes you are!” And our God will take care of you.

He’s got you!

So stop with the worrying. It’s time to SMILE!

A Year of Smiles – Day 225

Reason to SMILE #225: SOMEONE TO COUNT ON

My Sunday began as usual – choosing songs for morning worship with the kids.  “Hmmm. Which song should we sing today?” I thought as I scrolled through our music files. “Ah! We’ll start with this one. We haven’t sung this one in a while.”

I made our playlist and waited for the kids to gather.

Soon, our morning activities began and music filed the room. My first song choice was playing and all was going well until… the chorus.  The words rang out,” I’m counting on, I’m counting on God. I’m counting on, I’m counting on God.”

Now, I must interject here that there are times when I get a little annoyed with some of our children’s songs. The chorus in this one repeats the same line over and over again.  And it’s not just the repetition of the words that bugs me. It’s also the music. The chorus is basically written using only one note. Don’t get me wrong. This song is awesome. It simply took some getting used to.

Today, however, it wasn’t the repetition of our song that disturbed me. As we were singing “I’m counting on, I’m counting on God” for the second or third time, I began to hear something more than the monotone melody of this children’s song. Rising above the music was a distinguishable voice asking, “Are you counting on me?” It was all I could do to control my emotions.

You see, I’ve been struggling lately, feeling like one particular issue I’m facing is hopeless. I had resigned to the fact that I’m alone in my struggle, that nothing will change and that I simply have to live with things the way they are. After all, I have been dealing with the issue for quite some time and every time I believe a breakthrough is just around the corner, there’s always a setback.

Man! What a bunch of hooey I was allowing the devil to spew into my ears! As a child of God, I always have someone on which I can depend. My Heavenly Father is faithful to answer my cries for help. He is the only One who can solve my problems and make a way when I can see no way at all. It’s time I begin trusting Him with everything – even that one situation that I believe is hopeless – no, especially that one.

Isn’t it ironic that a song I haphazardly picked for children’s worship would be the vehicle for God’s voice in my life today? Nah. God knows how to speak to His children. That’s something you can always count on! And God’s dependability is most certainly a reason to SMILE!

A Year of Smiles – Day 198

Reason to SMILE #198: RAINBOWS

A promise from God.  A reminder that His words are true and that He is faithful.

This rainbow appeared in my backyard during a particularly stormy time in my life.  I had been praying over a difficult situation which seemed to be spiraling out of my control.  As a late afternoon rain shower came to an end, I looked out of my kitchen window and found a beautiful reminder of God’s faithfulness, a personal promise that God has all things in His control.  I could let go and trust Him with my worries and fears.

I know the rainbow that appeared was a natural manifestation of sunlight being refracted through water droplets in the sky but I also know that God created that natural manifestation.  And He used it that day to bring a SMILE during a time when smiles were difficult for me to find.

… I never did find the pot of gold, though. It must have been at the other end! 😉

 

Help my Unbelief!

Faith. The Bible tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). With it, we can move mountains (Mark 11:22-24). Through faith, we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9) and in faith, we are able to take our petitions to the Heavenly Father and believe that He will meet our needs (Matthew 21:22).

Faith. I’d love to tell you that I have a lot of it and that I live my life by it. I’d love to stand tall, hold my head high, puff out my chest and tell you that nothing causes me to doubt or worry because I have such great FAITH. I’d love to tell you that…. But if I did, I’d be lying.

Several years ago, I stumbled upon a prayer of Dr. Rick Warren as I was perusing Facebook. (Ah! The treasure trove that is Facebook!) Dr. Warren’s prayer was simple but packed quite a powerful punch. He prayed, “Holy Spirit, enlarge my vision, stretch my faith, and liberate me from self-imposed limitations that dishonor you.”

“Wow!” I thought as I read those words. “I need to be praying that daily!”

So, I made this my prayer for the next year…

Have you ever prayed for something and then, after receiving the answer, wish you had never prayed for that something in the first place? I must admit that I’ve wished many times over the past several years that I had never found this prayer of Dr. Warren. (Cursed Facebook!) But God has a way of revealing what we need in our lives and this prayer was, and still is, a part of His plan for growing me into the woman of faith that He wants me to be. However, I am quite certain that when I began praying this prayer, I was not ready for God to answer it.

Let me see if I can explain.

Have you ever prayed for patience? Have you ever prayed for a loving spirit? What about strength? If you have prayed for any of these wonderful characteristics, did God instantly bless you with them? My guess would be “No.” Like any other virtue, patience, a loving spirit and strength must be learned. They must be practiced and developed over time.

So, how does God answer the prayer for patience? He answers by allowing us to encounter situations that will require patience. How does He answer the prayer for a loving spirit? He places the unlovable in our paths. How does He answer the prayer for strength? He pushes us beyond our self-perceived limits and tests our endurance. That’s our God. He doesn’t just snap his fingers or wiggle his nose and instantly transform us into a better person. He molds us. He reshapes us. He teaches us through life lessons, through tough situations, through challenging seasons. And when the lessons are learned, we are the better for them.

Do you see where I’m going here?

Daily, I prayed, “Lord, enlarge my vision, stretch my faith and free me from self-imposed limitations.” I realize now that with this prayer, I was literally telling God that I was ready to be challenged. I was asking God to take me out of my comfort zone, to push me beyond my limits, to take me to the next level. Basically, I was saying, “OK, God, bring it on!”

God listened and obliged.

Though I prayed for three things and saw God moving in all three areas of my life, it seems He was most interested in my request concerning faith! And how do you suppose God answered my request for Him to stretch my faith? Yep, you guessed it. God is quite consistent with His teaching methods. I have to be honest, though, His methods are not always fun.

Challenge after challenge has been thrown at me over the past several years. From health scares, personally and with my older son, to school struggles with my younger son to learning to let go as my older son pursues and explores the calling on his life to financial stresses and job problems to watching my husband be pushed away from the church family that I love and serve, the road to increased faith has not been easy. I’ve failed perfectly many, many times in these tests of my faith and found myself wondering if I had any faith at all.

“Stretch my faith,” I prayed. What was I thinking?

I wish I could continue my story with a mind-blowing ending:

I have conquered all doubts and fears and learned to trust God with every facet of my life.  When trials come my way, I don’t even blink.  I take up my shield of faith and keep marching on.

I’m no where near there.  I can tell you that I have seen God move in mighty ways and I’ve seen Him provide for my family in the toughest of times. Yet, I still struggle with faith in many situations, such as my husband’s discouragement with the church and my newly discovered issue with anxiety. But (such a powerful little word that is) God is still working – despite my lack of faith.  You see, I may not be faithful but my God surely is! And “He who began a good work in [me] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6) And, yes, that promise includes continuing to allow situations in my life that stretch my faith!

Faith. I still have a long way to go before I become that woman of faith that God wants me to be. But as I face the challenges God lays before me – those circumstances He uses to stretch my faith – I find myself repeating yet another prayer. The words of a desperate father in Mark chapter 9 beseeching Jesus to heal his son sum up my daily plea, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!”

A Year of Smiles – Day 137

Reason to SMILE #137: HIDE ‘N SEEK

It was dark. The yard was lit only by the corner street lights.  Shadows fell from every tree and structure on the property.  It was the perfect conditions for a game of hide and seek!

My family and several of our cousins were visiting my Nana.  All of us kids were bored and were looking for something fun to do.  Hide and seek won the majority vote so outside we all went.

Finding good hiding spots was never a problem for me. I was small and wiry.  I did, however, because of my muscle disorder, have a problem getting to the base before “It” caught me.  So, that night, one of my older cousins picked me up, put me on his shoulders and said, “We’re going to be a team.”

You need to know something about this cousin of mine.  He was about six feet tall and skinny as a rail.  With me on his shoulders, we were a whopping 8 feet tall conglomerate that needed a place to hide.  That was a problem.

The seeker, or “It”, began counting.  My siblings and cousins scattered to different hiding places all over the darkened yard.  My cousin, with me on his shoulders, was standing in the middle of the yard with no place to go.  Finally, he turned toward the corner of the yard and saw that the street light post was casting a long shadow into my grandmother’s yard.  He ran to the shadow and positioned us squarely withi its borders then told me to be very quiet.

“It” finished counting and took off around the house searching for the hiders.  One by one, the hiders were either found or had made their way back to base.  Meanwhile, my cousin and I were standing in the middle of the yard covered only by the shadow of the street light post.  “It” ran past us several times but never discovered our presence. Finally, the seeker gave up.  We stepped out of the shadow and we were declared the winners!

Now that was an awesome game of hide and seek!  We were standing right out in the open but no one was able to find us.  In the shadow of the light post, we were hidden.  We were shielded from being caught and were able to walk away victorious.

Life can feel like a game of hide and seek.  There are so many things seeking our attention, seeking to control us, seeking to detour us, seeking to destroy us.  We search for a place to hide from these dangers but our earthly resources can only protect for so long.  Eventually, we are found.  Fears overtake us; doubts consume us; negativity overwhelms us.

But there is a place where we can find rest from this soul-threatening game of hide and seek.  There is a shelter where we can find peace in the midst of our storms.  There is a refuge where we can find comfort during life’s toughest trials.  This hiding place is in the presence of our Heavenly Father.

Psalm 91:1 says, “He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”  Aren’t you glad we have a great, big God that casts an even bigger shadow in which we can find refuge and protection from the one who is seeking to devour our lives?  I certainly am and knowing that my Heavenly Father has everything in His control allows me to find peace even when life gets rough.

Oh, one more thing – you can’t stand in a shadow unless you are near the object that is casting the shadow.  This goes for God’s shadow, too.  You can’t stand in God’s protective shadow unless you get close to Him.  But I promise.  The closer you get to Him, the greater your SMILE will be.

 

 

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A Year of Smiles – Day 78

Reason to SMILE #78: SUNSETS

There’s just something about a sunset that brings peace to a troubled soul.

After a long and wearisome day like today… Actually, after a long and wearisome week, it feels as if peace is doing all it can to elude me.  Uncertainty and doubt have become my closest friends but peace…

As I was driving home from church, however, I was reminded that true peace is never that far out of reach.  I looked into my rearview mirror to check for traffic but instead, found the most beautiful of sunsets.  My first thoughts were of how awesome the Creator of this Universe is and how amazing His use of colors.  Then, as I continued to glance through the mirror, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by the presence and peace of God.  It was as if that sunset was created only for me as a reminder that the One who controls the Sun can most certainly handle my troubles.  Peace.  There you are!

Yes, there’s something about the majesty of a sunset that brings a sense of tranquility to the most troubled of souls.  There’s also something about knowing God is control that brings a SMILE to the face of the one willing to trade their problems for the Peace of God.

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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The Case Against Worry

There is no where I go that God is not there. In my home, at my job, on the streets, in my car – He is there. No matter my situation, He is there. When I am enjoying life’s mountaintop, my God is there. When I am grieving in life’s valley, He is there. When I choose to walk away, He is there. I cannot outrun Him. I cannot hide from Him. I am never and will never be alone.

He knows my thoughts. He knows my words even before I speak. He knows my dreams. He knows my fears. He knows my prayers before I pray. He made me. He carefully and skillfully crafted together all that makes me, me. He knows me better than I know myself. I cannot fool God.

I am wonderfully made by the Master of all Creation. I am His masterpiece! I am constantly in the thoughts of the Lord of all the Universe. I am His treasured love!  I am held by the hands of the Mighty Protector and Defender. I am His precious child!

I have no need to worry!

Psalm 139