worrying and birds and flowers ..

" it would be tragic to think that a flower or bird lives with greater intention than you " ..
Pastor J
go in at Matthew 6:25
come out at 30

`|`

i have this dear christian friend who is consumed with worry ..
it's not that they're much different from most of us, just that the 2 of us communicate regularly and share, so i am aware ..
.. it becomes even more real when you realize that you are a part of the reason for their worry ..
   like, that bites hard - leaves tooth marks all over me ..
      or them ..

`|`

go in at Creator God's care for a hungry bird, imaginative design of a lily
come out at me worrying ..
   about food or clothing, or the number of my days, or my height or weight, or my son or daughter ..

what i'm doing is taking God's position in my life ..
i'm bearing this burden, when God is saying " i got this. i got you. loose it, lean on me " ..
i'm telling God " mmm .. not sure i believe that; i'll hold onto it for now "
= faith
not ..

we talk about faith, a lot
we don't do faith much
..

go in at pagans/unbelievers, who don't have God and worry
come out at me and my Godness, worrying ..
am i not then pagan in my faith ?
do pagans have faith ?
do i ?
..

the truth is that God, who knows what a sparrow needs, and who so gloriously adorned that lilly which surpasses the ultra extravagant Solomon, knows me quite well thank you, and is quite aware of my needs
and while i think i can somehow handle my stuff on my own by worrying over it, as in ' i'm in charge ', there is no one anywhere who is more caring and able to do just that than my God
      agreed ? ..
         eh ? .. . .
if my God is God
if God is God
if i believe in that God
if my faith is faith indeed ..
..
'cause when i worry i deny my faith
worse yet I deny God ..
my faith is counted as nothing
i'm simply playing mind-games, trying to convince myself of something that isn't real, repeating what someone on a soapbox said like it was gospel
   while all the while my faith has no flesh, no muscle, no bite in my life ..
i'm still in control of me

`|`

" in crisis we reach for the thing that's closest to our heart " ( Pas J )
and while we may reach out for God up-front, we quickly use our other hand to grab the liquor, the pill, the shrink, the pastor, the  ..
as if God is at the bottom of that bottle ..
but God can't be bottled
and if ( we'd ) i'd simply reach back I'd feel God's hand
 and find God was there holding me all along, loving me ..

you can't bottle that ..
that's God in love
the God of grace who loves me anyway, all the time, full-on
   regardless of my unbelief
   my worry
   my diss'ing God
because God cannot deny God
God is ever faithful in the Lord Christ ..
always     (2 Timothy 2:13)
get that
..

our Man in heaven who traveled the road we travel as human, blazed the way as a Human for us
and we are presently powerfully represented at the most honorable place of Right Hand of God ..

the faithfulness of the Christ is our rearguard - " i got ya, friend " ..
now, how do I go in there
and come out worrying ..
..

we are not only represented before God by the man Jesus
we are in Christ
in Christ
embraced by him
there
here
now
and nothing anywhere - no power of whatever sort - can override that .. ever
even to death
even in death

`|`

sometimmes we live the lie that says when we worry we are showing we care .. " it's because i care so much "
it's a lie because it is quite contrary to what Jesus says .. period
we fool ourself

`|`

most versions split the text of Matthew 6 at v24, and treat v25 as a different section
like this ..
" Serving Two Masters
24 “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear." "

i prefer to think the one flows naturally into the other, hence the 'therefore' in v25
like this ..
24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.
25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear."

which ties having/not having money into worry
..

regardless, consider
v 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
well .. ?

Jesus ..
" 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? ..
30 If God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.
Why do you have so little faith? "

.. why do i have so little faith ? .. .
and there's that nagging issue again, that itch i can't seem to reach ..

worry
      faith, trust
worry
      God
worry
      my best friend and mentor, Master Jesus

" 33 Seek the Kingdom of God and righteousness above all else, and God will give you everything you need. " ..
well then ..
there's that massive promise from the lips of Jesus
there's that ..

" 34 So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own. "
and there's that ..
live today for today
in faith
trusting the God Who is There ..

`|`

it's interesting to note that the greek word used for 'worry' is one rooted in a word meaning ' a part ', as opposed to the whole
one greek expert defines it thus: ' drawn in different directions '
another: ' divided into parts '
' to go to pieces '
[ this observation from a non-greek non-geek .. me ]
..
as to that (which i just discovered), while reading the preceding passage this morning, a verse struck me again, as this verse always does ..
“Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body.
When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light.
But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!"     ( 6:22,23 )
..
along that line, the word for 'healthy' in the verse just quoted is rooted in ' single ', ' sound ', ' perfect ' ..
ye old KJV renders it ' single '
single, as in undivided ..

perhaps worry divides me
such that i am not integrated, not sound
i wonder if that eye, when in worry, has a divisive effect on me as a whole
divides me
splinters me
..

someone said that fear ( worry in disguise ) is taking a future unknown situation, imagining the worst-case scenario, and bringing that into your present, experiencing the possible bad outcome as if it was real ..

`|`

regardless, it should be evident from Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6 that when we worry we express fear and a lack of trust in the God we claim

and then there's apostle Paul ..
" Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. "    ( Philippians 4:6,7 )

and while i picked on my friend for worrying
i have a few questions to ask my self ..

you ? ..

peace to you