shelter

Keeping up with life is complicated. It seems as if the days go by so quickly. I have found it even more challenging as I have gotten older. And I know it’s not true, but the days go faster. I have noticed how I can do one chore, and after it is finished, I am ready for a nap!

There could be many reasons, like not sleeping well, sickness, and disease. If you have a condition, that can certainly make you tired after exerting a little effort.

But I think there is a more severe, more hideous force behind much of it. It’s evil, and it doesn’t care about you at all. It does have a name, and that name is “Satan.” He wants nothing more than to keep you and your life so stirred up that you don’t have time to think about God or even to consider him. And forget about thinking of asking God for help. It never crosses your mind. You are most likely fearful and scared about your finances, job, relationships, etc. Anything but God! Ironically, God is what you need and who you need.

³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear?

³²For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all.

³³But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.

³⁴So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble. Mat. 6:30-34 (AMPC)

Surrendering your life to Christ, asking him to forgive you of your sins, and to come into your life is the place to start. If you have done that but still resist letting God guide you, then you need to get to know him so you can trust him. He loves you so much!

Even now, while I am writing this post, I got a phone call that has caused me to stop and pray. I am asking God what He would have us do concerning our rent house. Our current tenant just called me and said they could not pay June’s rent, so they are moving out. I need God to help me figure it all out. And how we are going to pay our bills now. See that is how practical God is and how much He cares about our daily grind. But because I have known God for a long time then I know I can count on him to provide for us. I trust him.

^25-28“Has anyone by fussing before the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? If fussing can’t even do that, why fuss at all? Walk into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They don’t fuss with their appearance—but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the wildflowers, most of them never even seen, don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?

^29-32“What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don’t be afraid of missing out. Luke 12:25-31 (MSG)

Prayer: Father God, help us all slow down and consider you. Help us to talk to you and then trust you and help us believe that you know what we need. Help us to stop striving and let you be God.

²⁵“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

²⁸“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:25-34 (NKJV)

Jesus spoke the words above. He was trying to teach the people in his day and us today not to worry. A lot of people do worry today. They live in fear of many things. Will their job last? And if they lost their job, how would they pay their bills? As an adult, I went through unemployment twice. It’s not easy, and it’s not fun at all! It’s hard not to fall into the temptation to worry.

It’s understandable with inflation, supply chain issues, and the war in Ukraine. We just came through the Coronavirus, and our nation is divided. But can any of us control these things? Or other items not listed?

This is why we need to place all of our trust in God. He can control all things even when He allows humankind free will. He does know what we have need of and wants to make sure we have those things and more. He is a good Father who loves us so much and wants to give us good gifts. He wants to see all of our needs met so that we have enough and am able to bless others out of our abundance.

The key to this life of trusting God is seeking him first. Pursuing the things of God, especially his character. His most remarkable character is love. Everything God did and everything God does is out of love. It is out of this love that He knows.

brady, mark a.

Words to inspire you

Why Are You So Busy?

³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear?

³²For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all.

³³But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.

³⁴So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble. Mat. 6:30-34 (AMPC)

He Knows (cont.)

30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear?

32 For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all.

33 But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.

34 So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble. Mat. 6:30-34 (AMPC)

³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear?

³²For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all.

³³But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.

³⁴So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble. Mat. 6:30-34 (AMPC)