Worry

I won't go into the nastiness that is stirring within my church today. The short version is that our Pastor of 30 years retired approximately 3 years ago. For two years, we were without one and since August, we have had a new one. The one who God called. Unfortunately, the congregation is not seeing eye to eye. Unfortunately, to some, "CHANGE" is clearly a four-letter-word.

Hurt is the best way that I know to describe the state of our church today. Hurt describes my heart as well as I worry about the things that have been said and done and the things that are happening as we speak. I worry about the feelings that have been hurt and the people who have NOT been reached while we struggle within. I worry about the fact that we have come to place where sides are being chosen WITHIN the body of Christ. What will the arms and legs do without the head and back? I am reminded of a line from a song...."if we are the body, why aren't His hands reaching?".

God has spoken to me regarding this time and time again but my flesh continues to fall into the oppression that is worry and fear. Today I read this on Beth Moore's blog.....

"Why do you worry? What possible use does your worrying serve? You are aboard such a large ship that you would be unable to steer even if your Captain placed you at the helm. You would not even be able to adjust the sails, yet you worry as if you were the captain or the helmsman of the vessel. Be quiet, dear soul - God is the Master! Do you think all the commotion and the uproar of this life is evidence that God has left His throne? He has not! His mighty steeds rush furiously ahead, and His chariots are the storms themselves. (Pause, Siestas, and hear the sound of those mighty steeds in your spirit. Feel their hoof-beats pound in your chest. He's on His mighty way!) But the horses have bridles, and it is God who holds the reins, guiding the chariots as He wills! Our God Jehovah is still the Master! Believe this and you will have peace. 'Don't be afraid' (Matt. 14:27).

"My favorite line: "You are aboard such a large ship that you would be unable to steer even if your Captain placed you at the helm." So, we might as well stop trying. Anyway, with the best intentions we'd steer that Titanic smack into the next iceberg with all our loved ones on board. You don't let your two-year old steer the car no matter how she might kick and scream from the backseat. God's too wise to let our control issues work out for us. If we keep insisting, He might let us give it a hand for a while but, sooner or later, we'll hit the iceberg. And the iceberg is He.

Regardless of how convinced we are, God has not placed us in control of our environments nor are we responsible for how everyone is behaving or how things will turn out. He is still God and, yes, even over "this," whatever your "this" may be. His, Beloved Siestas, is a LARGE SHIP. Something much bigger than we can picture is going on from a God's-eye view. Our trials are allowed so that Christ may be formed in us and then, through us, serve that greater purpose. Worry always and only forms thicker flesh in us and weights us down until we cannot walk where the Spirit would take us.

I've come to learn from God that worry is a waving red flag to the enemy. It is a dead giveaway that the person owning it does not trust God. The shield of faith is down. So fire when ready. Every time we're tempted to take it all on and worry something to death, let's say aloud from the depths of our souls, "I choose to trust You, Lord. I choose trust. I choose You."Be quiet, Dear Soul! God is the Master! Don't be afraid.With dearest love,beth

Thank you Jesus for this reminder that God is still in control. Yes...we are "more than conquerors". I choose to trust you, Lord. I do.