The Problem With Worry

These past couple posts since I started writing again have taught me more than I thought..I had the mindset before of putting my thoughts on here to share with others..But now I'm realizing that these words aren't my words, so while it'd be awesome if people were getting stuff from my posts, I feel like every time I post I am able to learn something myself.

So I figure, why not talk about probably the greatest sin struggle I have.

Worry.

And YES. It is a sin to worry.

"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 so much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Matthew 6:25-27

So if you look back in Exodus where the ten commandments are listed, how do each of the commands start?

Thou shalt not

Thou shalt

etc..

And in Matthew, JESUS, the Son of GOD, who conquered death...is giving a sermon centuries later and he is commanding us not to worry. Just like the Israelites were given the ten commandments, this is something our Father and Savior is commanding us not to do.

Because what's the opposite of worry?

Trust.

"Trust in the LORD with all of your heart, and LEAN NOT on your OWN UNDERSTANDING. In all your ways ACKNOWLEDGE HIM and He will make your paths STRAIGHT."

Think about it. When we choose to worry, we are choosing to not trust in God and the things He has promised.  And when we choose not to trust in God..we are choosing to trust in something else.

And that's what idolatry is.

How crazy is it that when we practice idolatry, we are expecting something besides God to supply for our every need! We are worshipping the created over the creator. And when we choose to allow ourselves to worry, we aren't just putting our hope and trust in something besides God.

We're choosing to make ourselves and our ways our own idol.

It's like saying.."Yeah, God..I know you hold the earth and you created me, and you do everything for the good of those who love you....But I just don't believe it, so I'm gonna just sit and worry about it."

When we worry, we are essentially calling God a liar.

And I am talking to myself more than ya'll could know right now. If I spent all my time praying instead of worrying..even just praying in general about my relationship with the Lord,not just the things I'm worried about...Wow would my life be radically different.

And I can't speak for everyone, but I know the very reason why I worry.

Control.

When it comes to my future, to my success, to anything ME related, I want to be in control. I love security, I love knowing things are going to work out. But wow, God does not call us to an easy life, or to a life of security. He calls us to pick up our cross daily and die to ourselves.

What does your cross look like? If it's a worry-cross, a control-cross, man take it up with the LORD! Every day I have to remind myself who is in control, and who's running the show..Because honestly, if I were in control all the time like I desire to be..wow, we would have a problem. 

Let go, because our wonderful FATHER has got our backs.

Fire

So I came across this story in God's word, and just felt really psyched to write about it.  It's a pretty well known story.(:

So in Daniel Ch.3, there's a story about three men-Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego...And they all live in Babylon. There's this king, Nebuchadnezzar, who kind of has a big head. He thinks he's pretty hot stuff, so he decides to set up a statue ninety feet high and nine feet wide of himself, made completely out of gold.  Not only that, but he made a proclamation that whenever the people of Babylon hear a trumpet sound, they are required to bow down and worship king Nebbie's statue.  And whoever doesn't fall down and worship the statue will be sentenced to burn in a fiery furnace... I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty scary, burning in a furnace, and definitely not the way I'd want to peace out of.  So, out of fear, everyone fell down and worshipped the statue.
Everyone except Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego...
"At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, 'O king, Live forever! You have issued a decree, O king, that every one who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace.  But there are some jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon-Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego-who pay no attention to you, O king. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up." Daniel 3:8-12

I love how the old testament can so easily apply to our lives, just as much as the new testament.
In our Christian walk, we are called to live a life set apart from the world..And this story paints such a clear picture of the walk that we should be walking.  Here's this powerful king that makes this decree, in which the punishment is death..and not a quick, painless death either..a fiery furnace. And it talks about earlier in chapter three that "all people, nations and men of every language fell down and worshipped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up." Which, I mean if you want to survive...it makes sense, right? Worship the statue and you keep your life.
"For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it." -Luke 9:24
Living a life devoted to Christ means not looking like those around you. When everyone is bowing down to things of the world, to their own modern version of the golden statue, as Christians we are called to proudly stand, take up our cross and follow Christ. That looks different to every person. Whether it's facing teasing or heat from friends for not giving in to peer pressure, or if you're legitimately risking your life to share your faith, each of us have our own cross to bear.  And people notice.  Because if you're surrounded by people bowing down, worshipping things of the world,a nd you're the only one standing up..people will see..because you're the only one standing. And that's scary.
Here's some encouragement though. Back to the story..
So when King Nebbie finds out that his three homeboys aren't bowing to his statue..He's "furious with rage"(vs 13). So he summons the three Jews, and questions them himself about their refusal to bow.  He asks them one more time if they really refused to worship him, the KING...and they say..
"O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." -Daniel 3:16-18
Although the three men are speaking truth, it still completely sets off king Nebbie, and the king orders that the furnace be heated seven times hotter...And the men get thrown in the furnace..
"He said, 'Look! I se four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."
They get thrown in a furnace..something that should have killed them, and they walk around in the furnace..unharmed.
How powerful is our God!
But here's the thing..That story is just a true testament that our God will NEVER leave us..When things get hard, it's so easy to completely forget that God is with us..and it's also easy to question God's power. But remember what the three men told Nebbie?! No matter what king Neb. did, the men didn't need to defend themselves-God, the TRUE God's will would prevail.  Sometimes we go through fire, different from what the three men went through, though.  Our faith is tested. We doubt. Tough times come. But God does not ever leave. He does not forsake us! When we're walking through that fire, whether we recognize it or not, He is with us. How awesome is that! The God who defeated death not only loves us and pursues us, but is all powerful-and all he does is for our well-being, for the good of those who love him. If God is for us, WHO can be against us?
The Lord will not lead us through something in which his will cannot be accomplished! SO why not stand up? Why not be bold, and walk out on a limb on faith. We don't have to be afraid of persecution when sharing our faith, because God is on our side..
so let's start living our life unafraid of the fire...because the fire refines us.

Grace and Actions

Holy cow it's been awhile. Gonna try to be writing more.

This whole sophomore year has been a butt kicker as far as trials and temptations and just crud. But when I was looking over my past year, I couldn't help but feel so blessed to be part of the youth group I belong to at the Village.  Not just because of the people, who are AWESOME, but because of God's purely amazing and perfect timing.
Ever since last summer, my main struggle in my walk with Christ has been making my works my focus instead of God and His grace.  I just have a really hard time remembering that I'm NOT going to be perfect, but that God's got me covered by His grace.
How cool is it that this very issue would be the basis of almost every wednesday night home-group I go to? It seems like every single week we are getting it lovingly-pounded into us that our salvation is NOT based on our works-but on faith.
So that's what I want to talk about.
It just gets a little dicey for me when I think about grace/works/salvation...  Because I am so works based, and so goal oriented, and especially focused on pleasing others and God, the thought of letting anyone down, or failing them at all strikes a lot of fear and just sense of failure in me.
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free form the law of sin and death." Romans 8:1-2
Picture this. You're standing in court, in front of a jury and a judge. You've been accused of a crime in which the punishment is DEATH. No life prison, no chance for parole, none of that. And you know you're guilty. You know you DESERVE death, and everyone knows you're guilty. Just before the jury reads off the verdict, the judge sitting behind you waives you of all punishment, and takes your place.
But.God.
"But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions..." Ephesians 2:4-5
When God says that there is no condemnation. He means that there is NO condemnation. I feel like today it is so easy for us to read the Bible and not truly take in what it's saying. No condemnation means that when God looks at us, He only sees what Christ accomplished on the cross. When God looks at us, He sees white. Think about all the mistakes you've made, and the stuff you've done. If you are a believer of Christ, God does not SEE that! Instead He gives us the Holy Spirit. The SAME God who conquered death lives in us, and we now have the ability to become more like and to be sanctified by this all powerful Lord!
But pause.
When the judge stepped in and took our sentence, did we DO anything to make the judge step in? No! God just LOOKED at us and loved us and pursued us and died for us because he wanted to KNOW us-the same sinners who drove the nails into Christ's wrists.
We did absolutely nothing to deserve salvation.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
Imagine how crazy you would seem if you received a pardon, an acquittal in that court...And you went out in the streets and said..
"Yeah, look at me! I saved myself from the death penalty! I did it all by myself!"
That's ridiculous. It was the JUDGE who did the saving...We have nothing to boast about.
But here's the thing.
What would your reaction be were you to be in the exact situation of hearing the judge wipe all charges away, and feel the handcuffs being taken off your wrist? Probably some shock for a little bit there..but what about after you went out living your life. Would you go out continuing to live the life you lived before, without even recognizing or remembering what the judge did? Or would you react to your acquittal?
"What good is it, my brothers and sisters if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? can such faith save them?" James 2:14
Okay..I feel like this verse is so easy to get tripped up, and the enemy can really use it to question salvation of followers of Christ. I know when I first came across this verse, I would always start sizing myself up, wondering if I had done enough works to back up my faith.
But I think that James is just honestly questioning what faith is with the absence of deeds.
Think about it. If we truly grasp what it means to be wiped away of all charges, to be truly free of condemnation, shouldn't there be a significant difference in the way we lived our lives before we were saved?
That's where I struggle though. Because I feel the need to be perfect, I can't grasp the fact that I'm going to mess up. Though I'm beginning to understand that God's grace isn't something that I'll ever fully be able to grasp, the Lord has been revealing to me that the more I fall in love with Him, the more I want to obey His commands..but also the more I am able to accept His saving grace. God commands us to not worry about anything. And that's including our future. While it is so important to live for the Lord, and to be sure and allow actions to back up our faith, we also have to understand that before anything, God's grace and what He did on the cross is what matters the most.

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depths, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:37-39

Take the implications of that verse, and what it truly means, and go out and live your life in HOPE!

Hannah