We all have things that we are concerned about, and up until very recently I was a worrier – I worried about finances, my health, my family and I can’t believe how many “what ifs” I worried about, and now realize that worrying is just another way to lose moments. I am not saying that I “never” worry, but I do recognize when I start to worry, and have a new way of dealing with it. God tells us that He can handle all our concerns and all we have to do is give them to Him.
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” ~ 1 Peter 5:7
Did you know that the enemy enjoys watching us waste time? When we take our eyes off God we are open to things not of God. The more I think about the pastor’s statement, the more I know that the biggest waste of my time, or anyone’s time is spent worrying. What does worrying do? It keeps the focus on all the things we “feel” might happen or have already happened. We cannot live fully when we worry or go back to relive what is in the past. We must trust the plan, God's will for our lives and in hope.
1 Peter 5:8-9 says, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings."
The best thing I can focus on is the love of God, loving others and realizing that love is what it is all about anyway. Love is the reason we are here. Love is the reason Jesus did all He did. Love is the reason I was created in God’s image. Love is the reason my eternity is not a mystery, and my life here is purposed. Love is the reason that my God instructs me, guides me and corrects me.
I love His word – every time I read a verse, whether the first time or the 100th time, much is revealed. I am thankful for God’s instruction to focus on the right things and to love Him, to love others and to love this journey, even though and especially since I fail. Through these failures, I learn, and as I learn there is His love to pull me through every time.
1 Corinthians 13 (The Message)The Way of LoveIf I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
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