Don't Worry, Be Happy

9/21/2011

Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.

Bible Verse of the Day: Matthew 6:34 " Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Today is my precious Daughter Emma's 4th birthday and I feel so blessed to be her daddy. She make my heart flutter and be filled with joy at the ethereal way she floats through life. She has an angelic viewpoint in this life that I am so thankful for and wish I could emulate more in my life. As a parent I often find my joy is somewhat tempted by my worrying. I worry about lots of things in this world and for how my kids will fare growing up in this place that is so full of deception and despair. This morning as we were opening up a few birthday gifts before her school, I was so joyful as I was focused on her and her beauty and vitality and excitement for her big day. But then I took my eyes off of her for a brief moment and instantly focused on my fears and worries of currently not being employed and having lost a considerable amount of our " net worth" over the last few months. I learned something new this morning. I learned how big of a sin worrying is in God's eyes and it totally convicted me. I have been guilty of worrying about so many things that show a lack of deep faith and trust in my Heavenly Father. It became clear to me this day that it must be appalling to him that I don't put enough faith in him to turn away from my earthly worries sometimes. And let's face it, one of the biggest things that we all worry about is money. Jesus warns us throughout the bible that a preoccupation with riches and materialism feed into a disposition of worry. He pleads with us to put our focus and attention on him and the promises of His father, " look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Matthew 6:26-27. This is something that I struggle with. I need more faith and a deeper trust. Jesus unveils to us that the root problem with worrying is that it is symptomatic of an unhealthy relationship with God. It is symbolic that there is something else in your life that is stealing away the fruit of your relationship with God. When we replace our trust in God with an impersonal and unforgiving master like money, it is bound to give rise to anxiety and worry. I didn't think I had this problem until today. My heart told me I was wrong, even if my head was telling me that this was not the case. I had to listen to my heart and it caused me deep regret and sorrow that I had slipped so far without even realizing it. After my daughter left for school, I pondered how my faith had become so shallow around not trusting my finances to the Lord. In my busyness, I had allowed my focus to slowly drift to material things and away from the Creator of all abundance. I fell on my knees and repented.

I have noticed that it is hard to feel truly happy when we are distracted by worry. When we focus our cares upon the Lord, we tend to not worry as much. Then we are freed up to be happy. I notice in my children that they have an abundance of happiness, mired by the occasional outburst of usually unwarranted sadness or grumpiness, but are not in the least encumbered by worry. I was pondering why as we grow older do we let worry become such a stumbling block in our lives? I know we become aware of the threats around us,and we have added pressures to provide for our families and a whole litany of responsibilities, but that shouldn't keep our focus from turning away from the Lord. I believe Jesus is very clear that childlike faith is a precursor to entering into the kingdom of heaven, " I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Mark 10:15. The key to overcoming worrying is to see God as Jesus describes Him, as a loving and intimately involved Father who wants what is best for us. But He loves us so much that He won't stand for playing second fiddle to anything else in our lives, especially false Gods like money. He is not jealous of us, He is jealous for us. We should be so thankful for that. Why not give Him what He desires, our hearts and devotion? I have a feeling that if we do that, our worrying will decrease and our happiness will increase exponentially. Then we will become like little children, worthy of entering His kingdom.