Today not tomorrow

Are you anxious about anything? Does anxiety plague you? Being anxious, worried and restless can all take their toll. Most of us experience worry and anxiety at some point in our lives and some live with it daily depending upon what “valley” we might be encountering. Now what do you suppose causes it? Jesus tells us in the Bible that freedom from anxiety arises from trust in God. He invites us to follow Him because in Him we can find the “rest” that we desire. Taking this line of thought a step further one could logically determine that anxiety comes from ‘not’ trusting God, thus worry is a dark sin, and as we all know, sin has its consequence.

I took a psychological test yesterday and one of the questions was: “Are you self reliant? I overcame many obstacles and personal demons in my personal life, (too numerous to enumerate here). I got far away from my former lifestyle and became a Christian, got married and raised a wonderful family. I started my career in Atlanta under the most humble conditions and despite difficult and very adverse conditions went on to successfully found numerous multi-million dollar companies. One could deduce that if for nothing more than a result of my successes in life and business I would have tremendous confidence in my abilities and literally be beaming with self reliance.

I answered the self-reliant question NO. I rely on God pure and simple. I find that the times I try to rely strictly on myself are the times that I mess up. I was fortunate that early in my career I nearly lost everything when several employees embezzled huge sums of money from our company and it literally took me seven long years to recover from it.

Huh? How could anyone be considered to be “fortunate” to have their business ravaged by thieves and be forced into a position of fighting for one’s very financial life for SEVEN long years?

Although that sounds like a paradox listen further. True enough it took seven long miserable years to recover from that incident, but during that low period of my life I learned an extremely valuable lesson in life the hard way. And that is that earthly treasures are temporal, meaning we only have use of them on a temporary basis. I had come to rely on my wealth etc. as the object of the game of life on a self-reliant basis. All of a sudden in an afternoon when i discovered the embezzlement, my former world came crashing down. It was as if God had pulled the rug out from under me demonstrating that this is what earthly wealth is ultimately all about. One day we will relinquish every material possession; if not during this life, most certainly when we pass on, (because we ain’t’ taking it with us that is for sure). Such thinking made me realize that since earthly treasures like Porches and Rolex watches are temporal, the only worthwhile treasures to pursue are heavenly ones as they will last for all of eternity and no one will ever strip them away from me.

I realized I had been conducting my struggle for existence in this world in the wrong manner. The proper way is to seek the kingdom of God first. (This is not to say that one must live in the desert wearing camel skins and eating locusts and honey; indeed God has blessed his faithful servants such as Abraham financially since the beginning of time.) It is to say however that our focus must remain fixed upon God as our main priority in life. If He chooses to bless us financially in this world fine; if not, then perhaps He knows something about us that we do not know, such as we might not be able to handle financial wealth and the temptations and problems that come with it.

Worry is silly when one understands that providence is over-ruled by sincere faith in God. Jesus tells us that we cannot worship two masters, God and mammon’, (Mammon means: What is stored up wealth/riches). He goes on to say that we should not worry about our lives and providing for ourselves and families. He compares us to the birds in the sky. They do not have barns, (or bank accounts), yet God provides for them. He goes on to assure us that we are far more valuable than birds and in fact the very hairs on our head are numbered. He also stated the not so obvious to the Donald Trumps of the world. Even the richest man who ever lived or ever will live, Solomon, when decked out in all his glory could hardly compare to the beauty of the simple lilies growing in a field which do not “toil and spin” (or worry). They are provided for in their entirety by God and we should understand that God loves us far more than a flower growing in a field and put our faith in Him that He will take care of our needs.

Jesus makes the point that we cannot change our circumstance through worry, not even non-stop 24/7 worry. So why do it? Don’t be self-reliant. Put your trust in God. Take it one day at a time believing with all your heart that God will provide for your needs. He loves you and He loves me with all His heart. He knows what is best for us and will provide it, if we will simply trust in Him and not in ourselves to provide us with what we truly need in this short life.

Matt. 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness and all
these things shall be added to you.
Therefore do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about its own things. Sufficient for
the day is its own trouble.