by David Brenneman
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:25-34.
God is in every tomorrow,
Therefore I live for today,
Certain of finding at sunrise,
Guidance and strength for my way;
Power for each moment of weakness,
Hope for each moment of pain,
Comfort for every sorrow,
Sunshine and joy after the rain.
-Author Unknown
It's been a rather interesting experience not knowing what's going to be in the days that I wake up to. The poem above was from Streams in the Desert, making mention of how a lot of people fear tomorrow and when you stop to consider it...God is, and always will be, in every tomorrow you will ever have.
I won't say that there's been no anxiety. There's just been a whole lot less than could be had we not had Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior.
Without that peace and joy of that...worries would abound.
Yet in everything and in every necessary way all our needs have been met. Not our wants but our needs. This too is a lesson to learn from this extended period of unemployment. To learn a clearer definition between needs and wants.
What else has come from these particular days has been looking for and looking forward to my mornings in my Bible reading and evening Bible study to see what all I am to know and understand that day. I have a painfully difficult time memorizing Scripture but I am not letting that hinder it being put into my mind and heart.
I don't pretend to understand why my employment life has been brought to a halt anymore than when it will begin again. I know that I will go and do whatever it is that God's wanting for me.
Jesus says to not to worry about tomorrow for tomorrow has enough trouble of its own. Can anyone dispute that truth? That tomorrow has enough trouble of its own?
There's another devotional that I read recently from Streams in the Desert that had another poem in it about keys. God holds the keys to every single door before us that are to opportunities. Until He hands us the keys, we will not go through any door before us.
Our lives are in His hands. We read about that here in John 10:27-30" My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”.
Add to that thought: "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21.
And as well "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." Ephesians 2:10.
As He is the worker in our life and we are His workmanship, things are going to happen for which we have no understanding thereof. It's on us to go back to Proverbs 3:5-6 again. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.".
So today came by the grace of God for us. The weather outside is honestly beautiful but treacherous at best if someone has to travel.
Many go through a day with things going wrong. Never understanding why a delay here and there happens. Go back several paragraphs. Our lives are in His hands. He owes us no explanation for why He permits what He does but we are to trust Him that His reasons are for our greater good.
Job didn't learn the why's of those horrible days he lived through until he met Jesus face-to-face. Why would anybody believe they're in a better position than Job to know more than he did?
Prayer is what's behind our getting us this far in this season of our lives. Prayers by those near us and by those far away. Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.
He either leads us through the mountains or He flattens them for us to walk over.
We indeed pray for those who have persecuted us. Primarily for salvation and secondly that the Lord would deal with them in His more appropriate way than what we would come up with. I know from my faith history that God has dealt with others who've wronged us in mighty powerful ways that I never could have come up with on my own. Read through the Old Testament. That's what God always did.
My days are to be spent learning to be more like Jesus Christ. Not the accumulation of wealth or on wasted pleasures that vie for His place in my heart and mind. Storing up treasures in Heaven where moth and rust do not destroy where thieves cannot break in and steal.
There's no life that's successful in the eyes of God that are a combination of Jesus and anything or anyone. Jesus said plainly that we cannot serve two masters. We will love one and hate the other.
These things and others that come into our days and our thoughts about tomorrow are what can either draw us closer to Jesus or make Him feel more distant.
We need our eyes opened to understand what our lives are really about and why we are really here for. We are here to grow in Christ and to be the light to those in this present darkness. We are workers in His harvest.
As members of the body of Christ we were set among the members of the body of Christ as the Spirit saw fit. So there are to be no bench warmers. Nobody on the sidelines. Nobody doing nothing. Cells in a body that are of no use to the body are called an infection. A cancer.
You who are in Christ have something to be doing for the Kingdom of God. Each day I need to still do whatever He puts before me to be doing. Whether it's for an employer or not. Scripture says to let everything we do be as though it's being done as unto the Lord.
So think about your eyes, your spiritual eyes, and ask Jesus to show you what you need to see about yourself and others in order to be the best version of you, by His enabling, all the days of your life.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.
A corporation not for profit.
La Habra, CA All rights reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment