Freedom From Worry

Do you worry often?  Would you like to know how to stop?  There isn't some magic juice or paper you can sign or app to download to get you there, though.

I have been reading the book Freedom From Worry, written by our pastor, Allen Jackson from a series of sermons about worry.  I finished reading it last night and felt like some of the last chapter really stuck out, or dug in deep, if you will. 
So, I would like to share...

A Remarkable Invitation

The invitation of Jesus is on a much higher level.  "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33).   

Why is it so hard to understand this passage fully?  Why is it soo hard just to give up things to God?  and seek first His kingdom? 

It works this way:
Chase stuff, and you'll never stop running, nor experience the peace of God.  Chase the peace of God, and you end up with both.  As C.S. Lewis put it, "Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.  Aim at earth and you will get neither." 

Sadly, this has proven to be a difficult lession to learn.  We get the whole thing backwards, thinking we need to take care of business first, then settle down and become a Christ-follower.

Creating many, many excuses along the way.

That time never comes.  We seek the things rather that the One who gives them, and we find that we never stop running.

The book goes on to tell a story about a man who lived a life totally and utterly by prayer. 

George Muller had a heart for orphans, and provided a shelter for as many homeless children as possible.  He decided from the beginning that he would do this task without fund raising or promoting.  He simply prayed and expected God to provied food. He kept a prayer journal that recorded then thousand answered prayers, some of them absolutely miraculous.  In one case, he came to bed knowing he had no food for breakfast the next day.  The children would go hungry unless God intervened.  The next morning there was a knock at the door, and it was a man with a meat wagon that had broken down outside.  "All this meat is going to spoil,"  he said. "Do you by chance have any use for a whole lot of meat?"

I am striving to live this way.  Just imagine the possibilities when you live totally and utterly for God.  I don't want to miss out on what He has for me.