Don't Worry, Be Faithful!

Today I visited Calvary Bible Church in Ft. Worth. I was really blessed, and I want to share with you some of my thoughts on Pastor Brent Osterberg’s message from Matthew 6:25-34.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, o you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying ‘what shall we eat?’ or ‘what shall we drink?’ or ‘what shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do no be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
His title was Drowning Your Worry in the Ocean of God’s Faithfulness, and his focus was on five truths we can use to drown our worries.
The first thing that was made very clear was something I needed to hear: Worry Is SIN! even though we tolerate and excuse it much more easily and often than things like murder, adultery etc. We must look at worry how God sees it- as sin. Why would worry be considered something wrong? Isn’t it okay to be greatly concerned about situations and people and things in our lives? Well, I think yes and no. It’s fine for me to show concern, and to give attention to things, but when it becomes something I worry about( aka obsess over, fixate on, etc.), it means that I have begun to doubt that God is a faithful and caring God, that He can take care of it. It’s outright unbelieving God. ouch. 

Some one-liners I have written in my notes are as follows:
Worry is trying to take your life into your own hands.

Worry gives you spiritual tunnel vision- you miss out on the peripheral God’s giving.

Worry keeps us from serving God well.

Here are Pastor Brent’s collection of five truths to drown worry, from Matt 6:

1. Life is more than the things we worry about. it's about God. Worry gives you spiritual tunnel vision, and you miss the things God wants you to see, by being consumed with the one thing that worries you.

2. We don't have to worry, because our Heavenly Father values and cares for us. More than the birds of the air (which he feeds) and the grass of the field (which he clothes). He knows each sparrow that falls to the ground, and how much more does he care for you and me?

3. Worry doesn’t pay off. “Can anyone by worrying add a single hour to his life?” I starred this one-- *Bethany, you’re not making progress toward a solution when you worry. Bethany, you’re NOT making progress toward a solution when you worry. BETHANY, ARE YOU LISTENING? YOU MAKE NO PROGRESS WHEN YOU WORRY.*

4. God will provide for those who seek Him. For crying out loud, He’s already done the hard part, He already sent His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sin. Why wouldn’t he be able to take care of these menial every-day needs? Why do we trust him for eternal life, but not for our daily needs? Do I really think that I can do a better job taking care of my life than God could? If I do, there’s a major problem.

5. Tomorrow is in God’s hands. “Tomorrow will take care of itself.” as in, God took care of today, and he’ll do the same tomorrow. 

The question is: Do you trust him?

There’s so much more I learned, and so much more that I didn’t even have time to write down. It really spoke to me, because I’m such a natural worrier. Some people joke that if there’s nothing to worry about, I’ll make something to worry about. Or if I’m not worried about anything, I’m looking for the next thing to worry about. It’s a terrible habit of mine, and I’ve been working at it for years now. I feel like this sermon gave me some great ammunition against worry. And it came down to one all-encompassing thought for me: Bethany, If you’re going to be faithful to God, you must not worry. 

I'm hoping this speaks to you in some way, and if it does I'd love to hear that I'm not the only one!

In other news: 

Here are two songs I've been thinking about today:

Time for me to post this baby and catch a few zzz's...
Have a blessed week, and don’t worry, be faithful!!
Betkany

From God, to Spurgeon, to Isaiah

Today’s an eclectic mish-mash of lots of things on my heart.

Think for a second about how many people you passed on your way to school/work today. Can you remember any faces? I was making note of the ones behind me at stoplights today as I was praying, and this blew me away: Just think- you’re in one city out of hundreds, if not thousands in your state/country alone. Multiply that by every other country, and it’s nearly mind-boggling. There are countless people with a life- a background, a present and a future filling up this earth. Now think about this- God is intimately acquainted with each and every person. Their genetic make-up, their personality, their dreams and desires, their struggles and failures. EVERYTHING. not only that, he intimately CARES about each and every person. That’s one great, big, amazing God. With Him there is no partiality (Rom 2). The only thing differing from person to person in relation to God’s intimate knowledge and attentiveness is how we respond to it. And so I asked myself today, “how am I responding to God’s care and concern for me? Do I ignore it, or do I appreciate it?”  “How am I showing Him my gratitude for loving me, and not getting tired of it, but continuing to love me through the good and the bad...always being there?”
I just had to tell Him like it is, “God, you never cease to amaze me!”

From Morning & Evening by Spurgeon, for Oct 7th. I’ve been thinking about this, and rejoicing in it for the past several days.

“In whom do you now trust?” Is 36:5

Reader, this is an important question. Listen to the Christian’s answer, and see if it is yours. “In whom do you now trust?” “I trust,” says the Christian, in a Triune God. I trust the Father, believing that He has chosen me from before the foundations of the world; I trust him to provide for me in providence, to teach me, to guide me, to correct me if need be and to bring me home to His own house where there are many rooms. I trust the Son. He is very God of very God-the man Christ Jesus. I trust in Him to take away al my sins by His own sacrifice and to clothe me with His perfect righteousness. I trust Him to be my Intercessor; to present my prayers and desires before His Father’s throne, and I trust Him to be my Advocate at the last great day, to plead my cause, and to justify me. I trust Him for what He is, for what He has done and for what He has promised still to do. and I trust the Holy Spirit- He has  begun to save me from my inbred sins; I trust Him to drive them all out; I trust Him to curb my temper, to subdue my will, to enlighten my understanding, to check my passions, to comfort my despondency, to help my weakness, to illuminate my darkness. I trust Him to dwell in me as my life, to reign in me as my King, to sanctify me completely, spirit, soul, and body, and then to take me up to dwell with the saints in light forever.”
What blessed trust- to trust Him whose power will never be exhausted, whose faithfulness will never fail, whose wisdom will never be overruled, and whose perfect goodness can never be impaired!
You are happy, reader, if this trust is yours! So trusting, you will enjoy sweet peace now and glory later, and the foundation of your trust will never be removed.

IN other news: an absolute favorite song of mine, especially when i don't know what to do and my new passage for memorization:

Isaiah 55 (ESV)

  "Come, everyone who thirsts,

   come to the waters;

and he who has no money,

   come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

   without money and without price.

 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,

   and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,

   and delight yourselves in rich food.

Incline your ear, and come to me;

    hear, that your soul may live;

and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,

   my steadfast, sure love for David.

 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,

    a leader and commander for the peoples.

 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,

   and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,

because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,

    for he has glorified you.

  "Seek the LORD while he may be found;
   call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
   and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
   and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

  "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
   and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
   it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
   and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

  "For you shall go out in joy
   and be led forth in peace;
 the mountains and the hills before you
   shall break forth into singing,
   and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
   instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the LORD,
   an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

Stumbling and getting back up,
Betkany

Mornings, Evenings and Little Wonderfuls

it’s been a while since I last wrote, and I still don’t have time now, but I’m writing anyway!

Here’s some of what’s been going on:

I recently started revamping my time with the Lord, because it was slowly moving down the line of priorities. I really wanted to spend time in the Word before I started my day because that helps give me a good starting perspective, but I also wanted to spend time at night, so my thoughts would be good and my dreams (hopefully) sweet as I drifted off to sleep. However, doing both sounded overwhelming because I had no structure to use, so often I'd end up skipping. (I’m a person who loves schedules, check-lists, etc.) *sigh*
When I ran into this book, I got so excited, it’s just what I’ve been needing!
The Book: Morning and Evening

The Authors: originally Spurgeon’s thoughts on the KJV, now modernized by Alistair Begg using the ESV.

It’s one full page per day, and that’s it! half in the morning, half in the evening, like the title says. Spurgeon expounds on a verse, or a few verses in each section, and it always gives me something to chew on. Then I’ll supplement it with readings from the Psalms or one of Paul’s letters, and it’s suddenly so much easier for my whole day to stay on track, from start to finish!

God knew I needed to find that book when I did, and I’m so glad He led me to it. It’s been a huge blessing.

And then, there have been those little wonderfuls I’m so fond of recording for you all.
Like, one day I was craving a Sonic lemon slush, like you wouldn’t believe. The next day, I was craving it even more while I was at work. So much, in fact, that I was considering posting about it on FB and seeing if anyone nearby wanted to bring me one. Well, I dismissed that idea pretty quickly as I thought of all the possible complications to posting a drink request on FB. I kid you not- it wasn’t even ten minutes later, my coworker walked in and said that our director was stopping at Sonic on the way back from an appointment and wanted to know if I wanted anything. How COOL is that?! God was, hmmmmm, “romancing” me i guess I’ll say. He was doing those sweet little things that only someone who truly, deeply cares about me on every level would know about and do without my asking.
Then, the very next day, He was sweet, but in a practical way. You see, my office is on one end of the education wing in HPBC, and the chapel (where I teach lessons) is on the other side. If I forget to bring something from my office, it’s not so fun to walk back and get it... and when there are already kids in the chapel, it’s impossible to leave at all. So that day, I only forgot one thing: my phone. It’s my clock while I teach. There’s no other clock that I can look at in the chapel. Well, at least there wasn’t before. So I realized my phone wasn’t there, and I couldn’t leave the chapel because there were kids... what was I going to do?! Well, I looked up to ask one of the teachers to give me a five minute warning and low and behold, BLARING from the back of the room was a new, giant, bright red digital clock! I couldn’t help but laugh at how sweet God was being to me!

He cares so much about me, and I love spending time with Him. I’ve been learning to surrender every wish, desire, hope and dream to Him trusting that He will only give me back what is His best for me. I only do this because I know that I know that I know He loves me. He continues to prove His deep and undying love for me every day, even though He really already did enough to prove His love when he sent Jesus to earth to pay the penalty for my sins. 

Something I’ve been singing a lot to Allie lately is this:
God is so good

God is so good

God is so good

He’s so good to me.

It’s true (:
God is good, even when I am not. God is faithful, even when I am unfaithful. God is love, even when I am unlovely. There are no words to say how thankful I am that God is unchanging and that I am His.

just living,

Bethany