Devotional - April 7, 2004

Worry; now, there's a subject for the ages, is it not? Do you worry? Jesus told his disciples not to do it and then he told them why. He told them it was because God would take care of all their needs. He said, "Does the Father not care for birds? Then why should he do less for you?"

Psalms 78 reminds us that God provided the needs of the Israelites in the desert. They were hungry and God fed them, not just a little but "they ate till they had more than enough, for he had given them what they craved." (Vs.78:29) And how many of you are becoming emaciated for lack of enough food to eat? But what about worrying about things other than food?

Are you anxious for the future? I believe our worry is proportional to the degree we've been blessed. For example, the businessman might be slightly worried about his 501k and his retirement investments. But the man who can't find work will worry about how to pay his rent and keep a roof over his family's head might become ill thinking about it. Both of them worry and God's word says we shouldn't do it! Is worry a sin? Sure it is, but look past the face of worry and you'll see a far greater problem than extreme concern.

A second truth about worry is that it varies according to the degree of our expectation. What that means is we tend to expect certain things and if we don't have it in sight, we look to see what's wrong. But all too often, we look in the wrong place. Misplaced expectation is the reason we get in trouble in the first place. Misplaced? By that I mean, as God's children expectation placed on anything other than God is misplaced.

In Matthew 5:5, Jesus taught us that the meek will inherit the earth. That's a lot of physical possession I'd say. But notice the verb in God's promise is in the future tense. Don't go running out to claim your property quite yet.

Meekness is surrendering everything you have to God and trusting him to give back what He thinks you need. What does meekness have to do with worry? Worry is assuming a responsibility God never gave you. When you sweat blood over the things you want but don't have, you're trying to wrestle control from God who has it in His control.

Relax, Christian friend. God has promised to meet all your needs through His riches in Christ Jesus. Why worry when You can release all your misplaced expectations and give them to Jesus who knows what you need and when you need it. While you're waiting, why not spend it thanking Him for the fact He's already given you more than enough and more than you deserve?