STOP WORRYING. SERIOUSLY.
Carey Madding
Today's Scripture: “This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.” Isaiah 14:26, ESV
Theme: Throughout time, God has known the purpose and plan for everything. Don’t stress the details of every circumstance; He’s got it covered.
FROM THE START
We laugh at toddlers, with a firm grip on their snuggle blankets and needing night lights. One of our grandchildren always needed two. Hand him a Ritz cracker? He needed one for each hand, whatever it was. (And snapping it in two within his view was not an option.) We begin this life needing more, having fears, worried if we are getting a fair shake in life.
Jesus taught simply: “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Matthew 6:34, NLT). He didn’t say we would not have troubles. He didn’t say it would all be easy. He just said, “Stop worrying.”
THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES
Yet, we begin to worry about which college to attend and which person to marry. “Can we afford a baby?” “Oh, well, we’re having one anyway,” so now we worry about HOW we can afford him. Besides the daily struggles of food, housing, and transportation, the next big financial hurdles incapacitate us for years. “How will we buy a house, pay for college, or ever be able to retire?”
As someone (probably) older than you, I can assure you those worries were wasted. Yes, many sleepless nights did occur because of emergencies or cash flow, but the huge financial rocks? They were not worth years of worry. For example, the kids’ college loans took a while, but they were not the second mortgage melodrama I imagined, with villains coming to evict us. Instead, they were a slow, steady slog of working, praying, paying, and trusting God with our income and expenses.
GOD’S PLAN
If God has called us to live this life—with jobs, and health issues, and financial woes, He must have a purpose in it. And He does! His plan for our rescue began at creation. And that plan included new life for all who believe in Jesus. His plan to mature us includes this struggle of daily trusting that He is in control, daily choosing not to worry but to rely on Him. This earth and every possible worry we encounter can be used by God to shape us and mold us into mature, Christ-minded believers if we continue to trust that He’s got us in the palm of His hands.
Make It Personal: This week, this season, trust that God has a plan. He has a purpose even in your worry, your grief, or your pain. He will use it to draw you to Himself, if you will allow it.
Pray: Lord, help me to come to You with every care and every fear. I trust that You have a plan. I trust that You will bring good out of trouble. I choose to release the worry and walk in faith. In Jesus’ power and Name! Amen.
Read: Psalm 91, Isaiah 49:16
Weekly Memory Verse: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11, ESV