Many Christians are familiar with Jesus’ rhetorical question (in Matt 6:27), “Can any of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life?” Yet most of us still do not take God at His word. The truth is, no amount of worrying can lengthen your life or add anything to your physical person. In fact, it does just the opposite – worrying robs you of sleep, health and many good years. However, when we step out of our thoughts of worry, and step into thoughts of faith, it is then that God can help us to grow spiritually.
Worrying is actually a habit, and like most habits can be broken; but we must choose to do so. A perfect example is what happened with our roof last month. We discovered a leak in the ceiling and along the wall of our living room. When we called a roofer out to the house, he asked us the age of the roof. He said, “Is it about 20 years old?” which shocked us both, because it is only 8 years old. Then, he told us we would need a new roof.
My first thought at this news was not the best, and I did not immediately rise up in faith. As a matter of fact, to be honest, I began to worry. I began to think, “How can we come up with $15,000?” After about an hour, I felt my spirit begin to say, “Practice what you preach.” I then thought of Philippians 4:19, which tells me that God “will supply all of my needs according to His riches and Glory”. So I began to speak that word over my life and over my roof!
A few hours later the roofer called and said he thought that the shingles may be from a company in GA that had made some defective shingles, and that we should verify where they were purchased. He was correct, and the shingles were indeed defective; which means we are getting a new roof – Praise the Lord! What a lesson we learned! I could have spent hours, days or weeks worrying about it, or I could have, instead, taken those thoughts of worry captive, and replaced them with God’s word of faith. I am not saying that everything will be instant, but I can tell you that God is always faithful to His Word – it is His very nature – and when you refuse to worry, you are putting your faith where it belongs…….. IN GOD!
Blessings,
Pastor Keith
