Grace For The Journey

  The term weed is used in a variety of senses, usually centering around an undesirable plant that is considered to be a nuisance. In the spiritual sense, weeds are thoughts, words, deeds, or desires that disrupt or distort our Christian walk.

Let’s take a brief look at the weeds of worry.

The Bible says in Matthew 6:25-34, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Worry is a weed that …

Waters down our witness

and

Weakens our walk

with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is why He makes it crystal clear that, for the Christian, worry is to be recognized and removed. If God feeds the birds of the air and clothes the flowers of the field, and we are much more valuable to God than they are, what is there to worry about? Absolutely nothing! Besides, as Jesus reminds us, each day has more than enough trouble to send our way without our adding to it by worry!

Worry robs us of our intimacy with Jesus because it puts our focus on ourselves, rather than on the One on whom we should focus: Jesus. The Bible states in 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 that one of the consequences of worry is that it distract us from the presence, the power, and the provision that God so bountifully will give us if we look to Him and lean on Him for meeting our needs.

Put very simply …

Worry is a lack of trust in God.

We worry because we don’t trust God to make good on His Word. He has promised to meet all of our needs in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19); but instead of resting in that promise we become restless in our worry.

God has never broken a promise in the past. Why would we worry about Him breaking one in the present or future?

The key that keeps us from watering the weeds of worry is the Gospel. Standing in the shadow of the cross and fixing our eyes on our Savior cures us of all worry. If Jesus was willing to suffer and die in our place, will He not provide for our every need? Of course He will!

Let me close with a quote from Billy Sunday:

You can’t love right unless you hate wrong.

You can’t love good unless you hate evil.

You can’t love flowers unless you hate weeds.

Hate those wicked weeds of worry and refuse to water them! Pull them out by the root and rest in the reality of your redemption, knowing that your Redeemer lives – and He will care for you!

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”