The Antidote to Worry, the Source of Peace

I struggle with worry.

If you have read my scribblings around here for long enough, you know that.  God's constantly trying to teach me how to trust, despite my circumstances.

I had another lesson in trust yesterday, partially due to my mother.  My mother, who has been blessed by this woman, dear Ann, and who in turn has been able to bless others.  My mother, who said once,

Thankfulness is the antidote to worry--

the source of peace.

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Yesterday I was reading Ann's words in her amazing book, One Thousand Gifts.  
I realized, once again, how my fear of the future can be conquered.  How my worry about the unknown can be vanquished.

Thankfulness.

How does this work?  Well, like everything, it starts with God.

God, who loves us so much that He has given us everything-- from the food in our refrigerators to the incredible forgiveness won for us by His Son on the cross.

God blesses us.  He promises in His Word that He will always bless us.  He will always make sure we have everything we need (see Matthew 6).

We look around us, and see those blessings, and count them.  (I sporadically keep a gratitude journal... working on making this a daily habit, and I highly recommend it.)  When we recognize those blessings, and thank God for them, we are reminded of His faithfulness.

We are reminded that He ALWAYS keeps His promises.

That means He will continue to bless us.  When we look toward the future, we can know, with absolute certainty, that God will provide for us there as He has in the past.

Then we can kick that fear out of our hearts.  That worry about the future?  It has no place in my life.  God's got the future in His hands.  That fear of the unknown?  God knows everything.  He has seen what I needed in the past and provided for it.  He knows what I need for the future.

How does thankfulness become the source of peace?
When we realize that as God has blessed us, so He will continue to bless us.  We can count on Him.

We can trust Him entirely.  He has fulfilled the promises He made in the past-- we KNOW he will fulfill the promises He's made for the future.  We can have absolute faith in that fact.

This kind of faith brings joy, joy that isn't dependent on circumstances.
It brings peace--peace that passes understanding, because it is a peace that comes from the Holy Spirit in our hearts.  Not a peace the world can understand.  Peace that God alone gives.

Just like He gives everything else.

God's blessings lead to our thankfulness for those blessings.  Our thankfulness leads to the strengthening of our trust in Him, because we can count on Him to continue to bless us.  Our trust leads to peace and joy, because we have nothing to fear in this life.  Nothing at all.

Blessings.
Thankfulness.
Trust.
Peace.
Joy.

All gifts from God... all starting with the amazing love He has for us.


Linking today with: The Fontenot Four, black tag diaries, Loved and Lovely, lovely little whimsy, There's Just One Mommy, Our Simple Country Life, Raising Mighty Arrows

Embracing This Present Season of Life

I have this habit of looking forward toward the future, and keeping the past firmly in my sights as well.  This leaves too little time for focusing on the present.

Image credit: Stock photo via Stuart Miles at freedigitalphotos.net

In keeping with my theme of {FOCUS} for this year, I've been thinking a lot about what it means to really embrace the present--the present day, and the present time in life.  Right now my season of life includes the vocations of wife, homemaker, and college student, among others.  One vocation I do not have right now is motherhood.

I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to being a mama.  The excitement of preparing for the birth of a child, wondering if it will be a boy or girl, whose features our child will have, what their personality will be like.  The changes in our life that a child will bring--new jobs and responsibilities, a new person to love and care for.  Seeing this living miracle that God made, in my body, a personification of his love for us in a tiny baby.  Sure, there are things to be less excited about... the discomfort and pain of pregnancy and childbirth, learning how to nurture our marriage with the added challenge of having a baby.

But right now, none of these things is in our near future.  We still have a couple years left before we're both done with school, and therefore, we'll need to wait to become parents.

As much as I'm looking forward to the future, it won't do to focus only on that right now.  God has me in this place, in this season of life, for very good reason.  He has a purpose for my life right now.  He has work for me to do right where I am.  Therefore, instead of spending all my time planning for and thinking about having a baby sometime in the future, I'm going to look for ways to serve God right here, right now.

Practically speaking, what does it mean to embrace each season of life as it comes?

-I embrace the roles God has given me.  Right now, those are wife, homemaker, and college student.  The roles of wife and homemaker will be mine for the rest of my life.  Now is the time to work on those, gaining wisdom and experience, and nurturing my marriage as much as I can, so that it can stand strong through the changes and challenges that will inevitably come.  After all, even after our future children grow up and leave home, I'll still be a wife--that's my first calling, and the most important.

-I look for ways to serve.  I don't have to wait till my husband is officially a teacher and "in the ministry."  We can start doing ministry right now!  I have hopes and plans that I'm looking to implement this fall...I'll let you know when those plans are more concrete.  At home, I can serve my husband, by taking care of our home and striving to be the best helper to him that I can.  I can open my home to others, and share the love of Jesus by practicing hospitality.  What gifts have I been given?  I can share those and thus serve the Lord.

-I leave the future in God's hands.  It does no good to worry about the future.  I have very little control over the days to come--but God does.  He already knows what will happen in my future, because he is eternal--not bound by time.
God made a promise to his people Israel that applies to his people today, too:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you," declares the Lord... (Jeremiah 29:11-14a)

Jesus taught this to his disciples in Matthew (6:31-34):

"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  (Emphasis added)

Finally, we can be certain that nothing in the past, present or future will ever change the way God loves us, and he will let nothing separate us from him.

"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 depth, 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 8:38-39, emphasis added)

What does this mean for us?  It means we can embrace our life, wherever we are in it, without fear and with joy, because God has our future in his hands.  He has a plan for us.  And his love for us is unchanging, and will stay the same forever, no matter what the future holds.

Linking with: A Proverbs 31 Wife, What Joy is Mine, The Alabaster Jar, Raising Arrows, The Better Mom, the Modest Mom

Trusting God's Promises

This is what I have been hearing from God the last few days:

I have chosen you; I have called you; you are Mine. (2 Thessalonians 2:13; Ephesians 1:4-6)


I know you're not perfect.  I've forgiven all your sins; just tell Me about them, and then we'll forget it.   (1 John 1:8-10)


No, you're not a failure.  I still want you to help carry out My purposes. (Ephesians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 3:9)


I have a plan for you.  It's okay that you don't know all about it yet.  I do, and that's what matters.  (Jeremiah 29:11; Psalm 33:10-11)


I know your life is hard sometimes, and you don't always understand why things happen the way they do.  I do understand, and most importantly, I have control of everything.  Nothing happens without my permission.  (Romans 8:28; Matthew 6:25-34; Philippians 4:6-7)


Trust me.  In everything.  I'm bigger than all your problems, and I will take care of you.  (1 Peter 5:6-7; Romans 8:35-39)

These promises of God are true for you, too.


Read those passages from His words to you.  Yes, God wrote the Scriptures with you in mind--and me, and everyone else who has ever lived.

Just trust in his promises.  Read these words of God, spoken through Paul to the Thessalonian believers:

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it."  -1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

don't worry, be {thankful}

One of the biggest ways the devil tries to trip me up in life is by getting me to worry.  If you read my ramblings here much at all you probably know that.

The biggest thing I have to worry about most of the time is money.  How can we make more?  Can we start setting money aside for a new car?  How can I afford to get my husband something for our anniversary next week?  And on and on.

I KNOW several things:

1) God always provides.

2) God knows what I need.

3) God will not let us be destitute.

4) In comparison to millions of people, we have a lot.

5) We have never gone hungry, never gone without electricity, never been without a home, clothes, or anything important.

6) God specifically says in his Word, "Do not worry" (Matthew 6:25).

I know all that.  I know how blessed we are.  But sometimes it's really hard to not worry...after all, I'm a sinful person.

The other night I was worrying, again, about money (as usual).  We were already in bed, and I started freaking out a little.  My wonderful (amazing, wise, loving, caring, sweet) husband reassured me in so many ways.  He reminded me how God has always provided in the past.  He came up with ideas of ways to stretch the money we do have (we're still taking a little anniversary getaway!!!).  He sang me a little song, the lyrics of which are Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD; plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future."  I know those words were told to the Israelites, but I know they apply to me as well.

It meant so much to me that my husband did this, especially because when I worry (particularly when it's out loud), it hurts him, too--it communicates that I don't trust God or my husband to take care of me.  Worrying is my way of trying to be in control...but as a child of God and a wife I am not supposed to be in control!  I am supposed to submit to and trust both God and my husband to care for me.

That doesn't mean I sit back and don't do anything to help.  Just this week I worked a seven-hour workday between my cleaning and my library jobs.  I keep busy at home.  I do my best to save us money.  And God blessed us this week with lots of food from our dear friends who are moving away.

So I guess what I'm saying in all this rambling is...I'm working on it.  The whole not-worrying-just-trusting thing.  And being thankful.  Because that's what it comes down to: when I'm thankful, I'm not worrying; I'm remembering all that God has done for me.  And it is so much!

{things I'm thankful for this week}

-rain.  finally.  for all the farmers around here who need it so much.

-an amazing, although whirlwind, weekend with my family for my brother's graduation.

-a surprise visit from my best high school friend while we were at my parents'!!  it was AWESOME!!

-waking up to a clean house every day.  finally getting the hang of this thing.

-a newly stocked fridge, freezer and pantry from our friends' fridge, freezer and pantry!

-amazing friends.  Ruth and Joseph.  Love them so much...going to miss them so much (but they'll be back!)

-coffee and doughnuts today, with hubby and then R&J before they left

-quiet mornings at home

-forty followers!  amazing! thanks all!!

-300+ posts...can't believe how far I've come with this blogging thing

-my incredible, hardworking, sweet, sexy, loving husband

-God's constant love, forgiveness and grace

linking up with all these lovely blogs today!

Stressing and Blessing

This weekend was a rollercoaster-ride of emotions.

Thursday morning our car started acting up.
Thursday night my in-laws came to help get it (temporarily) figured out.
Success with the car (temporarily).
Also Thursday night, my father-in-law had a minor stroke.

Friday morning my mother-in-law took Dad to the hospital.
Friday evening we had a great time with friends (Joe and Ruth).
Friday night Joshua's younger brothers stayed with us.

Saturday morning I spent thrift-shopping and making cookies with another amazing friend, Sara.
Saturday afternoon I worked at the library.
Brothers stayed with us again Saturday night.

Sunday morning we went to a Methodist church (for a class Joshua's taking).
Sunday afternoon we visited Joshua's parents at the hospital.
Dad is doing a lot better--walking with a walker, talking almost normally, moving more.
Sunday evening we went to see Puss in Boots (funny movie :) ).
Sunday night we did homework and played cards with Ruth and Joe.

And now it's Monday, and I'm drowsy from sleep deprivation all weekend, and stressed because the house didn't get clean like I planned for it to.

It was a busy weekend--stressful things and fun things to counteract the stressful, but no time to do much housework or homework.

In it all we were blessed.
In it all God taught me so much (selflessness, the value and importance of family, more lessons on priorities, how amazing our friends are, the incredible blessing my husband always is, etc, etc).

Life is so fragile.
The future is so elusive.
Our plans are so futile.

God holds all things together.
God knows the future.
God's plans will come to fruition.

Sometimes it's just hard to trust, to remember that.
Worrying seems so easy.  But it doesn't do any good.

Trusting is so hard.  But it's the only thing I can do, sometimes.
Prayer is so easy, and it does so much good!
I've been doing a lot of that this weekend.

I'm ooking forward to Thanksgiving break--a time to rest, to catch up on housecleaning, to relax with my husband, to see family, to remember all we have to be grateful for.

When things don't make sense (to me)

If you've read this blog for any length of time, or know me personally at all, you know that one of the biggest things I struggle with is trust.

Why does this have to happen? What does it mean? How is God teaching me in this? Who do I blame when things don't go the way I want them to? (Usually I blame myself...)

I have so many questions.  I want answers to all the problems in my life.  I want to know why life is so blasted hard sometimes.

But the long and short of it is, it's not for me to know.  My times, my life, are in God's hands. HE sees my future. HE has a plan for me--a plan to prosper me and not to harm me, a plan to give me hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

God doesn't hurt me. He's all good; he can't! He can and does allow bad things to happen to me...but because I am his child, called according to his purpose, he will work out all things for good (Romans 8:28).

I am a fallible human being. I can't see the future. I don't know what tomorrow will hold, or even the next hour or next minute. I can't control the way my life will go, so there's no sense worrying about it. As a weak and fragile human being, I can't handle all the worries and frustrations of this life.

But God can.

And he wants to! He wants to take my troubles, worries and sorrows off my shoulders and onto his. He wants to give me peace and comfort in return. I simply have to let go and stop being such a control freak!

So when things don't make sense to me, I know they make sense to the God who loves me, who created me, who has a purpose for me, who always has my best interests at heart, and who can see and holds my future in his all-mighty hands.

What Keeps Me from Worrying

A friend messaged me on facebook after reading the last post (thank you, my friend, for your encouragement!) and I shared some more of my own thoughts about not worrying.  These are the things I try to remember when I start to be anxious about something:

*It's out of my control.  Worrying is part of my control-freak-ness: I worry when I can't control something because I don't know how it's going to turn out (whether that's the future, some plans, or my health).  It IS, however, in God's control.  Which leads to the next thing:

*God is bigger than all my worries, troubles and frustrations.  He CAN and DOES handle ALL of it!!

*Moreover, God loves me more than I can possibly imagine.  He always wants what's best for me, and he knows what's best.  Not only that, but he knows everything I need.  He knows the right time to give it to me.  He knows when to not give me something I don't need, even if I think I do.

*When I look at life with an eternal perspective, little earthly trials and frustrations don't seem like such a big deal.  When I think about the problems other people face (famine, slavery, life-threatening illness, severe injury, poverty, etc), mine just don't seem that bad.  Also, when I consider that this life is so short compared to eternity, and I will spend FOREVER in a perfect body in God's presence, sicknesses and troubles and even money problems seem so small and insignificant.

*Finally, looking at all the things God has blessed me with reminds me of how much he does for me all the time, and reassures me that he will continue to provide for EVERYTHING I need.  

Before I Let the Worry Set In

"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?...Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?...So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

For the pagans run after all these things, and
your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."

~Matthew 6:25, 27, 31-34

There is no point in worrying.  It's not productive, it doesn't help, it only makes me and those around me upset.  God knows everything I need.  He desires me to keep my priorities in order: first God, his kingdom and righteousness, and then other things.  When God is the most important thing in my life, everything else will fall into place.

"Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guide your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."


~Philippians 4:4-7

As my mom has said: "Thanksgiving is the antidote to worry--the source of peace."  When we realize all our blessings, everything we have to be thankful for, our worries and troubles seem so much less and are put into perspective.  When there's so much for which we can thank God, how can we fret for what we think we don't have?

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen."


~Ephesians 3:20-21

His Strength, Not Mine

A friend posted this on her blog last night:
We've heard it so many times, the cliche has dulled the sharp edges of how hard it can sometimes be to believe:  God never gives you more than you can handle.  Everything has passed in front of the Inspector for approval. 


In my comment I said this:
Sometimes I think God has more confidence in my ability to handle things than I do. Then I remember: He doesn't have confidence in my strength. I simply need to have confidence in his. "I can do all things through HIM who gives me strength"!! (Philippians 4:13)


Sometimes life is tough.  Being a believer doesn't mean everything goes the way I want it to.  I'm still a sinful person, so often, the way I want things to go is not the way God wants them to.  Sometimes I feel like it's too much, more than I can handle, more than I can bear.


But it's not more than God can handle.  On the cross he bore the sins of all of mankind, the weight of every wrongdoing that every person has ever committed or will commit.  That's huge.  He, therefore, can bear the weight of my struggles, my weaknesses, and my sorrows.  He wants to bear them, because he knows I can't, and because he loves me.


Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."


What grace.  What love.

God IS In Control.

We're waiting out more nasty weather--living in Nebraska, this happens a lot.  (So far, our town hasn't been hit by anything severe.)  It's times like this that remind me how powerless I am and how powerful God is.  Jesus stilled a storm, calmed the wind and waves, and calmed the disciples' fear.  The weather is something so totally out of my hands, and it's such a comfort to remember that God's hands are big enough to hold the clouds and wind and rain--he literally has the whole world in his hands.  :)

I have some more control over my life than I have over the weather--but only in a way.  How much control do I have in my life, really?  I have a say in some things, but ultimately, my life is in God's hands.  I was just talking about this with a friend yesterday.  It's really better for me to let God take control.  Sometimes he lets circumstances give me the message, "You know what, Jaimie, I am a lot bigger than you.  I know a lot more than you.  You can't control things, you don't understand things, but I can and I do.  I am taking care of your life.  Just let me!"  Really, when I think about it, I'm committing the old sin of making another god more important than THE God--making myself into a god.  I try to take the wheel and put God in the passenger seat.  What I really should do is let God be the pilot of the plane of my life, and then go sit back in coach, so I can't even tell him what he should do, since I can't see where I'm going anyway.

"Pray about everything, worry about nothing," my mom tells me.  That's her shortened version of Philippians 4:6-7: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  When we leave off worrying, and pray about it instead, God fills us with his peace, calming our hearts and minds.  Besides, worrying doesn't do any good anyway!!

When I start to feel afraid, about anything, it's because I'm trying to take control of my circumstances in some way or another.  When I give that fear over to God, it disappears, because he can handle it.  He is in control.


This is my 100th blog post!!  It's been quite a journey since I started blogging last October.  I hope to continue for a very long time.  My prayer is that God makes me a blessing to others.  My goal is to honor him.

God, Who Richly Provides Us with Everything

I've expressed on here my continual struggle with worry, over the future, over money mostly.  I just get to wondering about how we'll pay for this or that, how we'll provide for ourselves.

More than once, actually many times, God had spoken to us by providing something we didn't expect, at the exact time we needed it.  Just yesterday I got an email offering me a job at the campus library next semester.  I've wanted to work in a library for years, and it will be a far nicer job than the one I currently have at the cafeteria.  God's timing is perfect- as always!

I like using my concordance to look up passages containing certain words, and today I looked up "provides" and was led to 1 Timothy 6:17-19, which reads:

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.  In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."

Now, by the standards of people living in a third-world country I'm incredibly rich.  By U.S. standards, I'm average, although in terms of what's in my bank account I'm pretty poor at the moment.  But I still have so much.  And I think what Timothy was trying to express in this passage, at least what I'm getting out of it, is to hope in God, not in physical wealth or money.  God will provide everything we need for life and for enjoyment.  What matters to him is not how much money we have, but the treasures we're laying up in heaven.

Matthew chapter six speaks to both these issues.  Jesus says in 6:19-21, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  When my goal is to obtain as much earthly wealth as I can, my heart will be with that money.  When my goal is to store up heavenly treasures, my heart will be heavenly-minded.  Jesus also said, "No one can serve two masters...You cannot serve both God and Money" (6:24).

Later in the chapter, Jesus says, "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own" (6:31-34).

I realize that some of my posts are more Scripture passages than my words, but the fact is, Jesus' words and the words of the God-inspired writers of the Bile are a lot more important than mine.  What I say will soon be forgotten if it is ever read, especially since what I'm writing here is my own considerings, and if anyone can benefit from them that's just an added bonus.  What God has said in his word has lasted thousands of years, and will last for eternity, even after Christ comes back for the second time.

This is what it means to be heavenly-minded, to seek first the kingdom and God's righteousness, to store up treasures in heaven.  It's not thinking about myself, but about other people.  It's about desiring and doing my best to do God's will, not mine, in my life.  It's about putting my complete trust in his providence, not mine.  It's about knowing that no matter what happens in this life, I have the assurance of eternal life in heaven.

Something I Needed to Hear

I just posted the following as a comment on a friend's blog post.  And as I wrote, I realized I was telling her something that I need to realize myself:

You are beautiful. You are graceful. You are elegant. You are a woman made by God, and as my favorite Sunday school teacher used to say, "God don't make junk." You are a priceless jewel.
You are forgiven. You are loved by a God who desires to fill your soul with him. He wants to be your everything. He adores you. He wants you to seek him out and fill any emptiness in your life with HIS love. And when you seek, he is already there for you.

As I write this, I realize that I am speaking truths that I myself need to be reminded of. Thank you for this reminder. That I, too, am loved. Am forgiven. That God desires to have a relationship with me. That all I really need, when it comes down to it, is him.
All that guilt inside me, that's just dead weight. I can let God take it and give me life!

Chapel yesterday was a reminder, "Do not worry."  About your life.  What you will eat, drink, wear.  Or about money, a place to live, what classes to take, how to pay the bills.  Don't worry, God says.  How can worrying help at all?  Who, by worrying, will add a single hour to his life?  God loves and provides for birds and flowers.  How much more precious to him am I than they!

He will provide.  He forgives.  He loves.
What a promise.

"Certain of What We Do Not See:" Hebrews 11:1

Faith: a precious, undeserved, and completely free gift, yet it is something I struggle with, a LOT.  Especially these last few days, for reasons that don't need to be shared publicly.  Suffice it to say that I have been worrying about the future, doubting in God's providence, struggling to understand how he will take care of me, of us, and in short: I have been focused on myself and my little struggles and worries instead of on GOD and how big, powerful, all-knowing and compassionate he is.

He has been sending messages my way a lot lately, through my mom and some other women I don't even know yesterday, and today in church and again through my amazing mother.

The hymns we sang in church today were "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" (he hears my prayers, I can go to him and he is always there for me, no matter what), "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us" (God cares for my every need, I am his, and he will guide my life), "Children of the Heavenly Father" (I am his child, he protects me from all harm, nothing will separate me from his love), and most encouraging of all, "We Walk By Faith and Not By Sight."  God is always near us, we can rejoice in his promise that he is always there, and we have nothing to fear in this life because we will spend eternity with him.

Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."  My mom sent me an email this morning that also included 2 Corinthians 4:18: "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Today's epistle spoke to me, too, from 1 Corinthians: "For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong...He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption." (1:25-26, 30)

I am very often foolish, weak in faith and body. But God is wiser and stronger in his foolishness and weakness than I am ever wise or strong. He gives me strength to have faith- to be sure of what I hope for, certain of what I do not, what I cannot, see. He knows my future. And he holds it in his hands. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'" (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

God has good plans for my future, plans to give me hope! He is there when I seek him, there when I don't, always hearing my prayers, even if I can't feel him.

Faith isn't about feeling. Faith is resting in the knowledge that God is God and I am not, and that is how it is supposed to be. God is there, God is real, God is in control, even when I can't see where my life is going. God loves me and forgives me and blesses me even when I fall away from him and struggle to trust in him. This is grace!

So. Today, I am going to be sure of what I hope for, and certain of what I cannot see.

I Can Trust Him.

Lately I've been worrying about money (again).

But then, on the phone with my man last night, God reminded me of something.  It's not me who will take care of myself, it's not my future husband who will take care of both of us--it's GOD who will care and provide for us.  And he already has!  In so many ways, God has been continually providing for us. I just need to open up my blind eyes and see those gifts for what they are: God's hand in our lives, taking care of us.

I'm realizing, pretty much daily, that marriage is going to be pretty hard work.  For me to submit to my husband is not going to be easy.  I'm a pretty bossy, selfish person, and I'm going to need some serious lessons in humility along the way.  But that's something else God can provide!!  HE gives us the love we need to give to one another.  HE gives me the strength to be humble and submissive, or in my future husband's case, the strength to lead in love and kindness.  GOD will give us the resources we need to make our marriage work.  That's not to say we won't have to put plenty of blood, sweat and tears into it ourselves.  But we can do ALL THINGS through CHRIST who gives us strength.

Sometimes I think that I have a pretty strong faith, but there are other days that I realize just how much I need to learn.  I don't need to do everything myself; I don't even need to figure out everything myself.

In a book I was reading yesterday (Shepherds Abiding, by Jan Karon), two characters had a discussion about what it means to be a Christian.  A priest told another man a simple prayer, one that included the line "I turn my entire life over to You."  The man commented, "My whole life is a lot to turn over to God."  The priest responded, "A whole life is a lot to handle all by yourself."  I shouldn't expect to be able to do everything myself.  God's given me life, but he also helps me work my way through it.

I can trust God, and I can trust my fiance because he trusts God, too, and I know they both love me more than I can imagine and will take care of me.

Today, I am going to trust.

He Provides: Matthew 6:25-34

It was brought to my attention yesterday that I worry a lot.

I do.

Right now, I'm worrying about studying for finals, the grades I'll get for said finals, money, where my fiance' and I are going to live in less than six months when we (finally) get married, getting everything done before I go home, etc.  I'm going to miss my honey for a week till he comes to my house.  And there are so many other things that I'm thinking and fretting and wondering about.

Jesus says in Matthew 6, "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  (6:31-34)  Earlier in the passage, Jesus summed it all up: "Do not worry about your life."  He made the point that worrying really does nothing to help us: it's pointless and it doesn't do any good.  Instead, we can trust that God knows what we need and will provide it.

Psalm 111 talks about how God provides our most basic needs: "He provides food for those who fear him" (verse 5), and "He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever--holy and awesome is his name" (verse 9)!  God has provided redemption: what else do we really need?  Paul also speaks of this in Romans chapter 5, verse 17: "For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ."

On the last page of Philippians in my Bible, I wrote, some time ago, "Earthly things just don't matter when I have Christ."  I'm going to rephrase that a bit: "When I have Christ I don't have to worry about anything."

I am a saved, forgiven, loved child of God.  That's what matters.

Today, I'm going to focus on God, instead of myself, and in focusing on what really matters, stop worrying about the things that don't.