Don't Worry...Really?

July 1 (Matthew 6:32)

… your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  (NLT)

Don’t you hate it when people tell you not to worry about something?  Telling someone not to worry is often something we say when we really do not know what else to say.  It’s like saying, “How are you?” to someone at the grocery store.  We aren’t really interested in the response and certainly don’t want to get into a long conversation.  We just want to get the milk and get home.

Part of the reason being told not to worry can seem irritating is that the person saying it cannot help us with what worries us, and we both know it.  Jesus, on the other hand, offers us no mere social nicety.  He does not give us a platitude.  In Matthew 6:25-34, He tells us not to worry, He points out how God cares for the needs of His other creatures, and then He makes it quite personal.  He looks His disciples in the eye and says, “Your Father in heaven knows what you need.”

Do you honestly think your Father does not know what you need as well?  This isn’t about sucking it up and pushing your worries down so deep no one well ever know just how scared you really are.  This isn’t about blithely saying, “I’m a Christian, so I guess things will work out.”  This isn’t about a system of faith or religion at all.  It is about a person.  God is a person.  He is your Father.  He knows you…yes, you.  He knows what you need.  He is aware of your situation.  And He is the one telling you not to worry.

Father, help me to keep my focus on You and Your promises when I grow nervous about the problems and demands that face me.  Help me to look not to my own resources or even the kind assurances of others.  I know You work through such things, but it is always You providing the actual help and answers.  And thank You, Jesus, for reminding me of that.  Amen.

Copyright © 2018 by Steven R. Perkins

Raw And Honest With God

January 15 (Psalm 143:4, 6-7)

I am losing all hope;

     I am paralyzed with fear.

I lift my hands to you in prayer.  

          I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain.

Come quickly, Lord, and answer me,    for my depression deepens.

    Don’t turn away from me,    or I will die.  (NLT)

We all need to be reminded of God’s love, but we also need to be reminded of something else.  We put on so many pretenses with others, acting as if things are okay when they really are not.  It’s just the way we get through the day, but we don’t have to do that with God.  You don’t have to do that with God.

The man writing these words was David, the greatest king in Israel’s history, a person described as a man after God’s own heart, and an ancestor of Jesus.  Think about that.  This is the same man who flat out admits he is losing hope and is paralyzed with fear.  Have you ever felt that way?  He begs for God to come quickly because of his deepening depression.  Have you ever been there?  He knows that if he does not see God, he will die.  Sound familiar?

If you have ever felt like this, you are in good company.  If you are surprised to find this in the Bible, then perhaps your image of God and a relationship with Him is skewed.  We cannot admit every private challenge and emotional struggle at work.  Sometimes we have to put on a happy face that masks the truth.  We never have to do this with God.  We can lay out the pain and the ugliness in the most blunt possible way with Him.  Try it.  Call out to Him with your true heart.  Write to Him in your journal with words you would never use in public.  You do not need to impress Him.  He loves you and wants to hear from you, the true you.

This week’s devotion does not conclude with a prayer from me.  It needs to conclude with a prayer from you.  Avoid the churchy language.  Get real and raw with Him.  There is nothing so shameful or painful that you can say that He does not already know.  He wants to help.  Go to Him.

Copyright © 2017 by Steven R. Perkins

Life With the King

July 26 (Psalm 47:7)

… God is the King of all the earth….  (ESV)

Earthly leaders have their proper role to play, but not one of them has ever been, is now, or will ever be King of all the earth.  All of Psalm 47 is a powerful reminder of Who actually sits on the throne of the world.  Do you suffer from a poor leader at work?  Do you worry about bad, even evil, leadership in the world around us?  Such people will lead only for a season, and even then, they do not control it all.

On top of that, you know the King of all the earth.  You know Him personally, and He knows you.  You enjoy what all those who seek audience with earthly powers will never know.  You have a bright, joyous, and loving relationship with the King.  He calls you His child (Romans 8:16) and He calls you His friend (John15:15).

So what are you waiting for?  If the conditions of life are bringing you down, take them to your friend, the King.  If there are things you simply cannot handle, fears that are reaching out for you, or more pain than you can bear, take them to your Father, the King.  There is not one person on earth who can ever love you the way He already does.

Father, I spend far too much time living as if I were not what I am, Your child and heir with Jesus to Your kingdom.  Help me to turn my eyes from both the threats of this life and anything that pretends to give me life.  You are my life, and I draw all my life from You.  In the powerful name of Jesus, I pray.  Amen.

Copyright © 2015 by Steven R. Perkins