DAYTONA

Within the secular culture, songs like, “Don't Worry, Be Happy”and “Hakuna Matata” (it means no worries) have been popularized for decades. Why is it then that the World has embraced this thinking, but the church is still struggling with this concept? 

 

Granted, it can be very easy to see the mountain of debt, the broken relationship, or the overbearing supervisor at work, and want to pull your hair out! However, it can become just as easy to trust that God moving and working things out on your behalf– even if you can’t see it yet. Did you know that worrying is another form of doubt? What we are really saying when we worry is, "I love you, Lord, but I am just not sure that you will do what you said you would do." Or, “I know you promised me that you would take care of me, but God, I just don't know if you can make it happen this time.”

 

As believers, we have to work get to a place where we spend less time worrying (stewing on, mulling over, and stressing out) about the things we face in life, but rather, spend more time seeking God for His perspective on our “problems”. Sometimes the very thing we want God to get rid of, is the path on which He has chosen for us to be blessed.

 

Philippians 4:6-7 is a popular scripture about worrying. Verse 6 says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, and pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” But it’s Verse 7 that really caught my attention! It says, “Then [after you have prayed, told God what you need, and thanked Him] He will give you His peace which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

 

What a promise! If we seek Him, pray to Him, and thank Him for all He has done for us, He will give us peace! What a joy it is to know that the only way to solve our problems is to give them away! Sadly, too many of us choose to hold on to our problems for fear of letting them go. We don't pray about them, or tell God what we need, and we certainly don't thank God for all he has done for us. It’s during these times that we are at our highest risk for suffering the effects of worry: stress, fear, aggravation, and sometimes, depression.

 

Friends, the opposite of worrying is waiting patiently on God. Praying leads us to waiting on God to communicate with us. Telling God what we need leads us to waiting on Him to provide it. Thanking God keeps us from waiting to praise Him until we physically have what we’ve requested. God does not want us to worry…He wants us to wait for Him to do the wonderful things He already has planned for us. 

 

I am reminded of the sisters Mary and Martha in the book of Luke. While Martha was running around exhausting herself, worried out of her mind about every single thing that needed to be done and when it needed to be done, Mary had the best seat in the house; She was nestled at the feet of Jesus. 

 

In a world full of Marthas, let’s be more like Mary – Lord, just let me sit at your feet and listen to your voice. In spite of everything that’s going on around me, this is the most important place for me to be.