Worry

I recently read something that said if we worry, we are in effect saying that our particular situation is more important than God's command to be joyful in all things. I've been thinking about it ever since.

Do you wonder why God told us to be joyful in all things? It would almost seem that He couldn't have possibly been serious about that one. There are so many things that can hit us from so many different directions. At any given time, most of us have a whole list we could choose from of things to worry about. And yet, we are to trust God, and let go of the worry...???

If we're honest, part of the problem we have with trusting God is that He may not handle our situation the way we want it handled. Oh, we know. We've all had those times where God did things TOTALLY different than we wanted him to. We want to be able to trust God to do what we want Him to do. We're not that interested in Him doing what He thinks is best. Dear God, how smart do we think we are???? Somewhere deep inside of us, we actually believe we should hang onto it so it gets handled the way we know it should. We think we know what would be best for us. And somewhere inside, we're not totally convinced God cares what is best for us.

Through blogland, I met a girl named  Rhonda who really says some great things about keeping your joy, and what it is about our troubles that we can be grateful for. You should definitely check it out. I've been pondering those things, too. In fact, I'm totally intrigued by this whole topic. And I think I'm in the process of completely redefining what it means to me to trust God.

God is interested in what's inside of me. He's interested in my growth, my maturity. He's interested in helping me learn to love genuinely, serve selflessly, and most importantly to be a light that shines toward Him. Those things are what's important. But many of us have bought into a lie. The lie that our comfort in this world is what's most important. That if God really cared, and if He really wanted us to trust Him, he would help us avoid suffering, achieve our personal dreams, have financial independence....the list goes on and on. We still think this world is what's important.

None of those things are bad in and of themselves. There is absolutely nothing wrong with achieving your dreams or having financial security. And we certainly don't need to be going out looking for some way to suffer. The problem comes when we value those things over the things that God values. We should love every trial that helps us see and know God better. We should rejoice when things have played out God's way instead of ours. If we have achieved a dream or financial security... we should be willing to lay it down in a heartbeat for any opportunity to learn to love more, serve more, be more of a hope to those who desperately need an encounter with Jesus.

So in trusting God, my quest becomes this: To lay it down. Not just the problem, but every thought I have of how the solution should play out. I want to offer God a clean slate, not some multiple choice options of how I'd like it handled. He knows what's important. And He's promised to work all things for good. What HE knows is good...not what I think I've figured out to be good. Trust is not just trusting Him with the problem. It's believing that whatever He decides to do with it is by far the best possible thing that could be done, and jumping on board with His plan no matter where it leads me.

God, help me trust you.