I have had some decisions in life that I literally agonized over. I’m talking blood, sweat, and tears. I prayed, meditated, sought advice and counsel, read books and scriptures, wrote out pros and cons, slept on it, and tossed it over and over in my mind.
And while some of those previous components are healthy and biblical, there is one component of decision-making that I’m guilty of but didn’t have to be: that’s worry.
I worried over the decisions that I was making. Sure when the stakes are high and involve major adjustments in lifestyle or critical components that involve the life of others, no one wants to make the wrong decision. God wants us to make the right decisions more than we do. He even desires for us to come to Him for direction in those decisions. But more importantly, He doesn’t want us to worry over making the decision. Have you ever stopped to think, “What does worrying solve?”
Norman Vincent Peale writes, “The word ‘worry’ is derived from an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning to strangle or to choke. How well-named the emotion it has been demonstrated again and again in persons who have lost their effectiveness due to the stultifying effect of anxiety and apprehension.”
Worry literally chokes our ability to excel, succeed, progress, grow and even think clearly. Worry becomes the primary vehicle that releases fear and other negative emotions in your life. It (worry) forces you to only consider the negative and the most limiting option. I have even learned that worry many times causes you to meditate on things that may not even be true.
Even the physical effects of worry are real. At a British clinic an examination of 500 patients confirmed that more than one-third of their visual problems were caused by emotional tension. Dr. Leonard S. Fosdick of Northwestern University has proven conclusively that worry restricts the flow of saliva. Then, because natural mouth acids are not properly neutralized, tooth decay occurs. A survey of about 5,000 students in 21 different colleges confirms that worriers get the lowest grades. Worry is simply not worth it!
James 1: 5-7 (Message) says, “If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way…”
Wow. I wish I had learned this truth a few years ago. It would have saved me some stressful moments, times of second-guessing, and misunderstood directions. I would have been able have confidence in God’s ability to direct me after I asked Him rather than in my ability to rationalize the right choice. I have learned my lesson. Yes, I must always consider the facts and weigh my options, but worry doesn’t have to be a part of the process. Join me today in kicking worry out of the process!
It is His will that I should cast
My care on Him each day;
He also bids me not to cast
My confidence away.
But oh! how foolishly I act
When taken unaware,
I cast away my confidence
And carry all my care!
—James Seward
By
Overseer Christopher J. Harris from 5/25/11
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Use Your Light
Lately I had been going thru a few "storms," but today I thought I could see the light at the end of the tunnel ... then I realized the light wasn't at the end of the tunnel at all. It had been in my hand the whole time ... I just hadn't turned it on.
No, I am not referring to a flashlight … but the Word of God. Sometimes we get so caught up and bent out of shape in what we see in the natural, that we forget who is really in control.
God never promised us that our lives would be smooth sailing all the time, but He did promise us that He would never leave us or forsake us. So when we find ourselves in distress, we need to stop focusing on the storm and turn our attention back to the one who commands the storms to rage or to be still.
There is nothing happening in our lives that surprises God. He isn’t looking at us wondering, “oh my, how did this happen or how are we going to handle this?” There is nothing, absolutely nothing that is impossible for God.
Our greatest storms don’t affect Him and we don’t have to let them affect us either if we would utilize the tool (the light of wisdom) that God has provided us through His Word.
While stress and worry were building up within me about the situations around me, God’s Word was instructing me to have faith.
“Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” Ephesians 6: 16
While I was panicking about the doctor’s report on a health issue, God’s word was saying that by His stripes I was healed.
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
While I was confused about what the next steps were in my life, God’s word was saying He would direct my paths.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
While I was ready to give someone a serious piece of my mind, God’s word reminded me to guard my tongue.
“And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” James 3:6
While I was devastated at the current state of a relationship, a work situation or my life in general, God’s word reminded me that all things work together for my good.
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
So stop fumbling around in the dark in the midst of your storm, whatever your storm is, and turn on your light … the Word and wisdom of God.
By
Tanya S. Martin-James
No, I am not referring to a flashlight … but the Word of God. Sometimes we get so caught up and bent out of shape in what we see in the natural, that we forget who is really in control.
God never promised us that our lives would be smooth sailing all the time, but He did promise us that He would never leave us or forsake us. So when we find ourselves in distress, we need to stop focusing on the storm and turn our attention back to the one who commands the storms to rage or to be still.
There is nothing happening in our lives that surprises God. He isn’t looking at us wondering, “oh my, how did this happen or how are we going to handle this?” There is nothing, absolutely nothing that is impossible for God.
Our greatest storms don’t affect Him and we don’t have to let them affect us either if we would utilize the tool (the light of wisdom) that God has provided us through His Word.
While stress and worry were building up within me about the situations around me, God’s Word was instructing me to have faith.
“Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” Ephesians 6: 16
While I was panicking about the doctor’s report on a health issue, God’s word was saying that by His stripes I was healed.
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
While I was confused about what the next steps were in my life, God’s word was saying He would direct my paths.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
While I was ready to give someone a serious piece of my mind, God’s word reminded me to guard my tongue.
“And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” James 3:6
While I was devastated at the current state of a relationship, a work situation or my life in general, God’s word reminded me that all things work together for my good.
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
So stop fumbling around in the dark in the midst of your storm, whatever your storm is, and turn on your light … the Word and wisdom of God.
By
Tanya S. Martin-James
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Trust and You Won't Be Crushed
It was just at the edge of dusk, 6 months ago this evening, when I woke up to find that I was lying flat on my back on the cold pavement. I remembered seeing the dog run out in front of our motorcycle, and I remembered us bracing and hitting it, then it was like being tumbled in a dark clothes dryer.
There hadn't even been time to be scared, much less avoid the impact. How long had I been unconscious? Someone had already stood up our motorcycle, and a couple of men were looking through the tour pack for some ID. I could see out the corner of my eye that Dana was lying about 10 feet away from me, but I couldn't hear him speak and I couldn't see if he was moving. People standing over us were saying things that indicated to me that we were both bad off.
At first I couldn't even talk, and it was so hard to breathe--I suppose from having had the wind knocked out of me. My helmet was shattered. Later I would find that I had a basal skull fracture and a fractured bone in my neck. I vaguely remember a woman holding my helmet and talking about how messed up it was. Someone commented that my head was bleeding. I wanted to go to Dana but I couldn't get up, and they were trying to keep me still so they could put me on a backboard. My arm was twisted over my head and I thought it was dislocated, but was told later that the shoulder was broken in two places.
In the midst of the confusion and the excruciating pain, for a brief moment it was as if the noise was muffled enough to hear, quite clearly, the Lord whisper just one word to me..."COVENANT." And in that moment, I knew exactly what He meant. I began to cry and say, "Thank you, God, for rebuking the devourer for our sakes!" A peace I can't even begin to describe rested on me, one that would get me through the longest night of my life.
We were airlifted, one at a time, from Williamson Memorial to St. Mary's. My stepson Coby held my hand and coached me to breathe in sync with him while they repositioned my broken shoulder. Then as I lay on a gurney in the hallway, a doctor came up and with no expression whatsoever, told me, "Your husband is unconscious and has a brain bleed. His brain has begun to swell. We'll do what we can." With that, she turned and left. I had to make up my mind right then and there...am I going to trust God or am I going to collapse under a weight of fear? I chose to trust God, and that's what I said out loud to her back as she was walking away.
For just a little while, they wheeled me into a holding room with Dana. He was lying there, eyes closed, not moving. I reached my fingers through the bars on our gurneys, gripped his hand, and prayed for him. Looking back now, I wonder whether the doctors might have thought he was going to die, and they were giving me a chance to say goodbye. But I spoke to him this Scripture which came to my remembrance, before they wheeled us in two different directions, "(You) shall live and not die, to declare the works of the Lord." (Psalm 118:17)
There are those times when we have to choose to believe, or be crushed under the weight of despair. And there are times when we can't just think it or hope it...we have to hear ourselves say it.
Dana spent 82 days in 3 hospitals, couldn't even swallow an ice chip for the first 43 days. He lay in the ICU trauma ward for 17 days comatose and running an insanely high fever. He had multiple fractures and a brain injury, but when Satan tried to take him out, God drew the line and said, "No."
Though it's been a physically and emotionally exhausting 6 months for both Dana and me, we have not lost our joy and we have not lost our love for life and one another. God has been so good to us. I'm telling you, friends, you need Jesus. You need Him, your marriage needs Him, your family needs Him to carry you through times like this. Covenant relationship with God doesn't mean you'll never face difficulty. It can, however, mean the difference between you surviving or being mowed down by the enemy.
Sooner or later, we all have to face the most difficult time of our lives. Are you prepared? God can keep you from falling apart. I can say that because, six months later, Dana and I are still held together by the duct tape of God's wonderful, saving grace. Even these fractured pieces form something beautiful...like a prism of glass that scatters light in every direction, testifying that truly, love never fails.
By
Lisa Crum
There hadn't even been time to be scared, much less avoid the impact. How long had I been unconscious? Someone had already stood up our motorcycle, and a couple of men were looking through the tour pack for some ID. I could see out the corner of my eye that Dana was lying about 10 feet away from me, but I couldn't hear him speak and I couldn't see if he was moving. People standing over us were saying things that indicated to me that we were both bad off.
At first I couldn't even talk, and it was so hard to breathe--I suppose from having had the wind knocked out of me. My helmet was shattered. Later I would find that I had a basal skull fracture and a fractured bone in my neck. I vaguely remember a woman holding my helmet and talking about how messed up it was. Someone commented that my head was bleeding. I wanted to go to Dana but I couldn't get up, and they were trying to keep me still so they could put me on a backboard. My arm was twisted over my head and I thought it was dislocated, but was told later that the shoulder was broken in two places.
In the midst of the confusion and the excruciating pain, for a brief moment it was as if the noise was muffled enough to hear, quite clearly, the Lord whisper just one word to me..."COVENANT." And in that moment, I knew exactly what He meant. I began to cry and say, "Thank you, God, for rebuking the devourer for our sakes!" A peace I can't even begin to describe rested on me, one that would get me through the longest night of my life.
We were airlifted, one at a time, from Williamson Memorial to St. Mary's. My stepson Coby held my hand and coached me to breathe in sync with him while they repositioned my broken shoulder. Then as I lay on a gurney in the hallway, a doctor came up and with no expression whatsoever, told me, "Your husband is unconscious and has a brain bleed. His brain has begun to swell. We'll do what we can." With that, she turned and left. I had to make up my mind right then and there...am I going to trust God or am I going to collapse under a weight of fear? I chose to trust God, and that's what I said out loud to her back as she was walking away.
For just a little while, they wheeled me into a holding room with Dana. He was lying there, eyes closed, not moving. I reached my fingers through the bars on our gurneys, gripped his hand, and prayed for him. Looking back now, I wonder whether the doctors might have thought he was going to die, and they were giving me a chance to say goodbye. But I spoke to him this Scripture which came to my remembrance, before they wheeled us in two different directions, "(You) shall live and not die, to declare the works of the Lord." (Psalm 118:17)
There are those times when we have to choose to believe, or be crushed under the weight of despair. And there are times when we can't just think it or hope it...we have to hear ourselves say it.
Dana spent 82 days in 3 hospitals, couldn't even swallow an ice chip for the first 43 days. He lay in the ICU trauma ward for 17 days comatose and running an insanely high fever. He had multiple fractures and a brain injury, but when Satan tried to take him out, God drew the line and said, "No."
Though it's been a physically and emotionally exhausting 6 months for both Dana and me, we have not lost our joy and we have not lost our love for life and one another. God has been so good to us. I'm telling you, friends, you need Jesus. You need Him, your marriage needs Him, your family needs Him to carry you through times like this. Covenant relationship with God doesn't mean you'll never face difficulty. It can, however, mean the difference between you surviving or being mowed down by the enemy.
Sooner or later, we all have to face the most difficult time of our lives. Are you prepared? God can keep you from falling apart. I can say that because, six months later, Dana and I are still held together by the duct tape of God's wonderful, saving grace. Even these fractured pieces form something beautiful...like a prism of glass that scatters light in every direction, testifying that truly, love never fails.
By
Lisa Crum
Monday, May 23, 2011
How's Your Uplook
Solomon, Israel's third king, was very wise, but he wasn't exactly a "glass is half-full" kind of person. Ecclesiastes, his treatise on life, is the journal of a pessimist. In it, he talks about trying many things to find fulfillment, only to see his disillusionment grow.
Intellectualism, wine, women, song--he pursued all of them, and found them all empty. He acquired things, he built things, he amassed wealth. But the hole inside him got bigger and bigger.
He realized he would die just like anyone else, and he hated his life and his work. Then he realized he might leave it all to a fool, and so he despaired. "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity," he said in the end (Ecclesiastes 1:2 and 12:8).
Think of the things that Solomon did in his life--building a great city including the Jewish temple, composing thousands of songs and proverbs about wisdom, etc. His response to everything? "All was vanity and the grasping for the wind." (Ecclesiastes 2:11)
Yet even in his pessimism he displayed wisdom, because in the middle of this dismal outlook on life he had a sudden flash of insight. He looked up, and he considered God: "Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God" (Ecclesiastes 2:24).
Your outlook depends on how you view a situation. When the twelve spies went into Canaan to scout out the territory (see Numbers 13), ten of them saw danger, because of the size of inhabitants of the land. But the other two saw victory, because they recognized the Lord was on their side. It was their "uplook" that made the difference. Likewise, Solomon looked around and saw vanity, but then he looked up and saw hope. It was the same guy, but with a different perspective.
The best translation of Ecclesiastes 2:25 says, "For who can eat or who can have enjoyment without Him?" And verse 26 continues, "God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight."
Nothing produces enough enjoyment to carry us through life. Any job can be mundane and monotonous, can make you bored and discontented--unless you place God in the center of it. God can replenish your joy.
Contrast Solomon and his lavish lifestyle with some humble but happy saint whom you know. You can be that one. It depends on your outlook, and your "uplook."
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).
By
Skip Heitzig
Intellectualism, wine, women, song--he pursued all of them, and found them all empty. He acquired things, he built things, he amassed wealth. But the hole inside him got bigger and bigger.
He realized he would die just like anyone else, and he hated his life and his work. Then he realized he might leave it all to a fool, and so he despaired. "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity," he said in the end (Ecclesiastes 1:2 and 12:8).
Think of the things that Solomon did in his life--building a great city including the Jewish temple, composing thousands of songs and proverbs about wisdom, etc. His response to everything? "All was vanity and the grasping for the wind." (Ecclesiastes 2:11)
Yet even in his pessimism he displayed wisdom, because in the middle of this dismal outlook on life he had a sudden flash of insight. He looked up, and he considered God: "Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God" (Ecclesiastes 2:24).
Your outlook depends on how you view a situation. When the twelve spies went into Canaan to scout out the territory (see Numbers 13), ten of them saw danger, because of the size of inhabitants of the land. But the other two saw victory, because they recognized the Lord was on their side. It was their "uplook" that made the difference. Likewise, Solomon looked around and saw vanity, but then he looked up and saw hope. It was the same guy, but with a different perspective.
The best translation of Ecclesiastes 2:25 says, "For who can eat or who can have enjoyment without Him?" And verse 26 continues, "God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight."
Nothing produces enough enjoyment to carry us through life. Any job can be mundane and monotonous, can make you bored and discontented--unless you place God in the center of it. God can replenish your joy.
Contrast Solomon and his lavish lifestyle with some humble but happy saint whom you know. You can be that one. It depends on your outlook, and your "uplook."
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).
By
Skip Heitzig
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