WHY ARE THE SAINTS SO WORRIED?
The world is ever changing on a daily basis. We don’t know where, what , who, when, how things are going to change which causes people to WORRY about things such living, surviving, money and the ability to enjoy luxuries that we desire. What is baffling is that we hear many Christians, true born again believers, Saints; children of the most High God express their concerns for their live in the midst of this political, natural disastrous, non-serious religious world, which we live in today. How and why is this??
Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV) says:
25"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? 26Look 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 much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his lifeF30 ?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
This is such a powerful passage that Jesus was privately giving to His disciples in the mountains. The same goes for us today. . . . . If we know that all things are in His hands and we belong to Him why do we the people of God worry about our surroundings, our families, our jobs etc.? How come we can’t be like Paul in the midst of all of his obstacles he states in Philippians 4:12;
“I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”
Where is our foundation of strength? Do we really have Faith? Is trusting God only seasonal?
WHY ARE THE SAINTS SO WORRIED?
12 comments:
Jelks8! This is the one subject that every person in this world can identify with. Everyone from the beginning of the Earth till now has worried about one thing or another. Why do we waste time worrying? There is a saying that someone once said, which is, "worry is like a rocking chair, it's gets you moving, but doesn't get you anywhere." Worrying causes us to be stagnant. Instead of it causing us to grow stronger, taller, it maes us weaker and we lose strength.
So, why do we worry? First, our relationship or lack of relationship with God may be seen in an uneasy way. Meaning that some of us may look at God like a earthly figure. If we did not have a positive relationship with our earthly father, and did not recieve the benefits of having a father, then we tend to look at God the same way. God has also given each of us choice and a mind that allows us to think for ourselves. And since sin has entered the world, and we have to work and do things to make ends meet, we find ourselves always trying to figure out things on our own when we don't have to. But how do we know that we don't have to, if we don't learn how to rely on God for everything. Do we really trust that God can be our Everything? We believe that the world revolves around the sun, and moves on an axis, but do we believe that it is God that is in charge of that? When we are the ones toiling each day, and getting a paycheck that meets our needs, do we believe that God is in that too? Elijiah was fed by ravens that God sent. The Israelites were given manna and quail that fell from the sky. But has any of us truly felt and believed that we have been fed by the hand of God? Or by Walmart and Kroger?
What is Matt. 6 saying? That we should we should live life without a worry or care, or is it saying that we will have worries and cares and that we that we shouldn't worry at all? "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will hae tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world". (John 16:33)
So why does God tell us not to worry? Because He knows within Himself that He has all the power and ability to take care of us all. Before Adam sinned, the world was perfect. When they sinned, we had to had to work for what we wanted and what we needed. We've become self-reliant and God knows that without Him we have nothing and can be or do nothing.
Jelks8,
This one has always been a mystery to me! I have heard saints who
literary gives God the high five every morning, noon, and night worrying about survival. Why? We are human. So is it really possible for our "Faith" to be constant...really embeded in God? Do we really need a seeable, touchable entity to trust in? I believe not! Matthew 6:25 says not to worry about your life. The cost of gas is soaring. Are you worried? Are you driving less? Me, I think I'm driving more. God has taken me through enough trials to trust that "His Will" shall be done. He will provide the gas, the money. But you have to get to that "mindset" to totally believe it. Don't think there aren't days that I wonder how this or that will be done but I can't allow it to soak into my spirit. I can't began to talk or think as someone who has never experienced the "Power of God." I believe God is trying to draw people to "TRUST HIM" in these days instead of worrying. There are so many things that affect our lives that cause us to "be concerned" (really its worrying said nicely)like family,friends and associates. Its not that we don't trust in God. We just want to handle it ourselves.
Tean and Coolsw thanks for your comments, I go with the both of you in different ways. These are points that people think of all day. I like that Tean "concerned" aka worried. God is trying to get us to trust Him but what is the reason why we don't. Yes we have a measure of faith but what about all of this flesh we wake up to every day? What's the deal with us wanting to handle things on "our own" Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts. Prov. 21:2; my question is; when are we going to step back and stand up and believe what the word of God says? Is this something that grows or is it a automatic happening, like God's mercy, favor, or grace?
I totally feel that I drive more because I believe that no matter how high the gas price gets God will feel my tank up! :-)
Jelks8,
I believe it's a combination of growth in the Lord and seeking His Will for your life that places you in this peaceful realm of a mindset,"Don't worry, God's got Control." You're there with your statement that no matter how high the gas gets...God will fill your tank. Mindset is a belief, it is what motivates you and makes you respond to that belief. When are we going to step back and stand up and believe what the word of God says? When we change the way we think!!!!!!!! We want CONTROL!! Until we get it into our heads that we truly don't control ANYTHING...we will keep trying to hang on to something to be "concerned about." Allow me to use this the following as a example of where I think some of us are: Let's say someone close to you (family member, best friend, etc)comes to you for advice...the problem is one that only God can heal, however...there's a couple of things that you can do to ease the immediate pain. God says for you to leave it alone. Can you walk away from it? You know that God will fix it but can you walk away in the midst of seeing "so much" pain and anguish?
Oh you guys just make a sista think! This is a great subject! As you both now, I am a control freak. Can you believe it Tean, I am actually admitting it! Back to the subject...two things have been brought to my attention so far. The first is doubt, and the second is control. We control things (or try to control things) that we are "concerned" about because we doubt that things will get taken care of unless we have a hand in it, know what I'm saying? One of the reason's why we doubt is because we are human, and have been disappointed one too many times, and therefore we feel like the same treatment that we give each other, we will receive from God. Another reason could be our pride, correct me if I'm wrong, which often tells us that we don't need any help, we've been doing things on our own for quite some time now. Doubt and pride mixed tells our "minds" that we can make it and do things on our own and we go back and forth between trusting God or trusting ourselves. James 1: 6-8 says "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
We go back and forth with God and ourselves all the time. The bible says that we don't need to think that we can be blessed by God with anything being unstable and doubting in our "minds", which in turn affects how we handle things and decisions. We don't believe!
Take Thomas, oh I mean Doubting Thomas. Jesus told him in John 20:29, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." It's take more than just a belief in God because anybody can believe in God. But when you put your faith and your trust in God, that is when your entire life, mind, heart, body, and soul is in Him. I ain't there! How do I get there?
coolsw,
you have to really want to get there! I have come to believe that if God allows it, its for my good...because He doesn't have to, He could easily not. I don't always agree but I am still learning to accept. But we are on our way when we have admitted and accepted that we "ain't there yet."
Do you realize how many people think they are one place in the Lord and when God's Will doesn't quite fit what they had in mind He would do simple lose it? Doubting, worrrying, and sometimes down right angry. There has been times in my "little mind" that "I thought" God was going to come to my rescue because I was being mistreated and He threw me totally for a loop and took me through so much pain that I began to almost doubt I ever heard from Him in the first place. But...that pain was apart of cleansing me, getting rid of some feelings that I had hung on to. It's not so much of what you go through...it how you go through it.
There are times when God is healing us and we don't have the sense to realize it and grab the change He's trying to make. We resist it. I talk from experience! Have your ever tried to worry about something and can't? Instead, you feel like smiling? At first, I thought I was going crazy but...God will do it!!!! I had peace in the midst of it all! Do I always have that mindset? NO. But I try to focus on what He has done, what He has brought me through, and most of all, I try to seek His peace.
Through all that we do endure, do we yet still believe, its for our best? Or DO WE have a pity party and try to invite all the other pity goers? We hear and read how Great God is but do we KNOW IT, do we BELIEVE IT, DO WE WALK IN IT, DO WE KNOW HOW?
Tean you summed it up "you have to want to get there"!! Not everybody wants to get there, they want to carry on this "woe is me for I am undone" attitudes; to all the Isaiah's out there (Is. 6) GET OVER IT!! The saying says "if God couldn't bring you through it He wouldn't of brought you to it" have ya'll seen or heard that? It's the truth, the level of faith and true belief in God will keep us from worring about things. Me personally I know when it is time for me to consecrate unto the Lord again, because I get over CONCERNED OR WORRIED about something that I shouldn't, why or how do I know that is it because the Holy Spirit convicts me through the WORD of God. Matthew says it so strongly TAKE NO THOUGHT FOR YOUR LIFE, LET TOMORROW BE TOMORROW. but watch this.. we can get so comfortable about statement and be LAZY in our doing, meaning what, that we live for today with no preparation for the next day or the next level in God. How so? I'm glad you asked; as Christians, saints believers whatever word you want to call yourself, we get stuck and think that we're at one level in God, we think "well this is all that He has in store for me today".... . NO we must not be worried about tomorrow but we must yet see with our spiritual eyes that God has something GREATER for us on tomorrow. I don't know what I don't know how but I BELIEVE that whatever it is God is getting ready to take me higher!!
The truth of the matter is that we don't know look through our SPIRITUAL EYES we function on pure FLESH VISION that's why we worry, we say we have faith we say we believe but how can this be.... faith is the evidence of things not seen.....
Eph. 3:20; "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,"
Do we have power? Are we convinced?
Do we serve an all powerful God or an enabling God?
Is God a just God or can He be unjust at times? Is He just when we get our way, and unjust when we don't?
Jelks8,
FLESH VISION keeps us in bondage; it keeps us worried,it keeps us unconvinced, it keeps us powerless, it keeps us complacent,it keeps us from seeing through spiritual eyes.
Caesar,
As you know, an enabler allows you to be dependent, even some times to the point of being lazy with no desire to help one's self. Which sounds alot like some of the Chistians, I know (but that's another blog). God is both...an enabler and all powerful. He enables us to be powerful for His perfect Will. However, we all have a choices. You can become complacent and rely on that comfort and do nothing else i.e."I'm waiting on the Lord" and the Lord is waiting on you to seek Him Or that comfort of this great dependency can make you thirsty for something greater...THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD! You have a choice! God gives you that choice! He doesn't make you do anything! But there's a price to be paid, if you don't. There's a price to be paid if you get too complacent with what you "DON'T THIRST AFTER."
Anonymous,
God gives FAVOR! Favor can appear unjust! I am one who has been given a lot of God's Favor and I've asked myself why? It's not because of my strict immediately obedience in everything He told me to do, its not because I'm so holy and not have sinned. Then why? Has the favor been given unjust? I believe the favor was given and continues to be given to accomplish the purpose that He has given me. And I am thankful for God's Favor for it teaches, and "enables a dependency" that draws me closer to Him. However,I do not take it for granted!
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