Overcoming Worry

Believing God Enough

Do you believe what God says? I mean, can you -- do you -- accept at face value what He has to say...and believe it, and live it? Or are you like most humans -- selective, doubtful, logical?

I believe one of the "good" reasons we struggle with covetousness is our need for security for the future. We don't want some calamity to catch us totally unawares and unprepared. Neither do we wish to have holes in our roofs, clothes and stomachs. The problem is, we tend to anchor our security in stuff instead of in the Stuff Giver. And when our stuff is in short supply, we worry.

God orders us to give sacrificially, that is, of our sustenance. In return, He says He will never leave us nor forsake us. He assures us He is aware of our need for the basic things of life. He promises to provide all we need if we will give our lives to His kingdom and righteousness. He tells us not to worry about tomorrow. "Thus saith the LORD," my friend! How will we respond? I hope not as one royal advisor: "Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be?" (2 Kings 7:2).

Has it ever struck you that we might be strong on professing trust but weak on producing it in our lives? We leave skid marks where the rubber meets the road. I fear our profession too often comes screeching to a halt when exposed to the rigors of a road test. The pilgrim Israelites likely knew next to nothing of rubber and roads, but one bunch of them learned a lot about soles and water. And God is calling you and me to a life of "sole meets the water" trust in Him and His Word.

"And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap" (Joshua 3:13).

A "sole meets the water" life believes God will make a way through any turbulence. The Christian who lives this kind of a life will not hoard for tomorrow what he can use to bless someone else today. He will delight himself in putting God to the test...repeatedly. This person understands that trusting God in the material things is no more risk than trusting Him in the spiritual things. So if God compels him to use next week's grocery money (the last $25 to his name) to meet a brother's need today...he so uses it. Unflinchingly. Willingly. Gladly. Fearlessly. Because with God, there is absolutely no risk involved. None!

How easy it is to look at God through the wrong end of the telescope! He appears so little and far away. And we conclude that if we can't see a solution, there is none; if we can't see a way through, there is none to be found. The God I serve is infinitely more creative than I! He doesn't even need "thin air" to make what I need! So why do I listen to my flesh and refuse to trust and obey?