My occupation with multiple worries at one time means that I don’t have to worry about any single thing obsessively. I can spread them out, switching the channel of my mind to a different fretful thought when one becomes too overwhelming.
Do not worry about tomorrow.
But what happens tomorrow could alter the destiny of many. So many things could go wrong, yet I feel powerless to stop any of them.
Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)
Very true – so why do I waste my energy on the “what-if’s” when there is so much to deal with this day? I fool myself if I think I have control over any of it. But if I start thinking like that, I just sit back and get cynical.
Beth Moore says: “At the end of the day, people do what they want to do. You can’t make them do something else. You can’t force them. You can’t change them. You can’t deliver them. Only God can. And that’s why He’s omnipotent and we’re not.” (So Long, Insecurity)
BEFORE the end of the day, I know that God uses me to influence, to bring about His will. At the end of the day, I need to know that I walked close to Jesus, leaned on Him, followed in His steps. At the end of the day, I want to hear Him say “well done, good and faithful servant,” regardless of the outcome around me and regardless of the choices people make.
We are meant to reflect His character, to show some faint reflection of each of His attributes. Even omnipotence to some degree (perhaps without the omni part). In Paul’s encouragement to Timothy to be faithful, he says in 2 Timothy 1:7 “God gives us a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.” This is power expressed with control and a loving spirit. Love is the goal of this dispensed power based on faith. He gives us the power to bring about change, to alter the course of someone’s destiny, to bring about results. He wants to bless us when we join Him in His work.
God is omnipotent and I am not. He has all the power to do whatever He decides He wants done. The best part is that it is always consistent with His character – His holiness, His goodness, His love, and His grace. He knows the passing of every sparrow. He knows the number of hairs on my head. This is a God who is in the details, a God who holds all the power, a God who cares more deeply than we can ever imagine.
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I think your opening paragraph describes how my mind works frightening well. I often busy my mind with another worry so that I will fall into the depths of those worries that are the most horrifying to me...but that just keeps one in a murky shallow of diminished hope within the disheartening. The struggle is changing one perspective to seek the omnipresent gifts all around, for peace and joy and all goodness are of God. They usually to be found right with the next worry just for our convenience.
ReplyDeleteI think letting go of others when it feels like I am watching a train wreck about to happen in their lives takes so much trust in God for me. The good news is that sometimes it is the train wreck that the person needs to bring them to the end of themselves and to the moment of change. This has been one of my biggest areas of struggle, too, as a counselor. Even though I have the answer to fix the person....they are not ready for the answer yet. So, I bite my lip and let go....
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Tammy
I sooo needed to hear this today. Thank you. :)
ReplyDeleteI, too, subscribed to the premium package with the highest number of channels for things to worry about!!!! The pitiful thing is, most end up to be fiction and never come NEAR really happening.
ReplyDeleteI can truly testify to the other end of this post: That it has been the consistant, loving, God-reflecting lives that have brought about change in my life -- the slow-but-sure, can't-miss-it, in-my-face, Jesus-with-skin-on, kind of people that seem to force me to make a choice without them ever saying a word to me personally about the choice I needed to make. That was a mouthful!!! Your post today has come as a reminder that I -- ME-- need to be the same to others, a reflection of all that He is. Thank you!