Worry.

As I prepare to go to Africa in 10 days for 2 months, I find myself worrying about things more often than I'd like to. As homework from the Kingdom Life class at my church, we were instructed to listen to God every morning and ask Him what He has for us that day. Today, this is what He told me:

Pick up your sword and be ready and willing. In the same way I asked you to surrender your finances to me, I ask you to surrender the rest of your trip to me. Let me put the pieces together. You just step back, relax, listen to the Holy Spirit to guide you.

This song was in my head this morning as well. "Holy fire, burn away, my desire, for anything that is not of You and is of me, I want more of You and less of me. Empty me, empty me, fill me, won't you fill me with You."

Even after I heard from the Lord, I found myself feeling anxious and worried about the rest of the details. This goes to show you how quickly worry and anxiety can creep in. I was worrying about the finances again. God provided more money than the amount due and it paid for some Talking Bibles and my flight change. There was some money left over, and I asked the Lord what He wanted me to do with it, and of course He said give it away, most of it. So, now I don't have that much and it won't pay for the little things I need, including the additional money I need for the two months that I'll be living in Ghana. I know that my friends will be taking an offering for me this weekend at their night of ministry, and they will be in touch with me while I am in Ghana for anything I may need. They told me they want me to be their Missionary, and I am so blessed by that. :) But I was thinking to myself, ok, that money will go towards the rest of the needs before I leave and then what about the rest for the two months? As you can see, worry creeped in again and kept going...I do recognize that, the funds may not all come in before I go to Ghana, and that would mean I'm really living by faith, which is kinda fun if you think about it because I will be waiting to see how God will provide. He has already told me He will provide everything I need, but now its just a matter of timing.

After all this worry, I opened my devotional and it was right on target, which is totally how God works. :) The first time I read it, I was kinda thinking ok yeah, easy enough, thank you Lord. But then when I read it again, let it sink in, and immersed myself in all the other scriptures about worry, I began to feel at peace and able to that God will provide. We can read scripture easily, but it doesn't do any good unless we believe it and act on it. So, I wanted to share what I received from the Lord today about worry and hope that it blesses you.

*The woman who wrote this devotional is a Missionary and she wrote it from God's perspective, from Him giving her words like I got this morning above. The title of the devotional book is Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young.

"I AM ALL AROUND YOU, like a cocoon of Light. My Presence with you is a promise, independent of your awareness of Me. Many things can block this awareness, but the major culprit is worry. My children tend to accept worry as an inescapable fact of life. However, worry is a form of unbelief; it is anathema to Me. Who is in charge of your life? If it is you, then you have a good reason to worry. But if it is I, then worry is both unnecessary and counterproductive. When you start to feel anxious about stomething, relinquish the situation to Me. Back off a bit, redirecting your focus to Me. I will either take care of the problem Myself or show you how to handle it. In this world, you will have problems, but you need not lose sight of Me." Scriptures she gave that relate are: Luke 12:22-31 and John 16:33

"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 but 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." Matthew 6:31-33

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

-PEACE comes AFTER we give our anxieties and worries to God.

"Cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7

After worrying about all the things above, especially about Africa and the stuff coming together in 10 days, God has given me that peace that it will all work out. He reminded me of His faithfulness in the past. A scripture he reminded me of for my situation is this:

And my God will meet ALL your NEEDS according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

My prayer is that you will be blessed by reading this blog about worry because of what God has spoken to me and shown me, and that today and every day you will choose not to accept worry, but instead choose to worry less. :)