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 important than food, and the body more important 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

Matthew 6:25-27

What do you worry about?

Some people worry about their family, finances or future. Some people worry about their life, if they will die. Others worry about school, work, food, clothes and if people think well of them. People are used to worrying, but Christians must be different. As Christians we don’t have anything to worry about.

In our high school small groups this last week we talked about worry. We called worry what it is: a sin. I think that for some this was shocker and many didn’t want to agree that all worry is wrong. When our friend Brad taught one of the small groups he said, “Life is changing and uncertain but we can have confidence in a certain God.”

Someone who is not a Christian worries because everything around them is changing and undependable. They don’t have real trust in anyone because people will always fail them. No assurance of tomorrow. They have reason to worry because they don’t have Christ.

Everything around a Christian is changing and undependable, but a Christian rests confidently in an unchanging God. Throughout all of time God remains the same. He has never broken a promise, never dealt wrongly with His children. God has a perfect track record. If we have trusted Him for our salvation then we have no reason not to fully entrust all the details of our lives and our future to Him.

In Matthew 6:25-27, Jesus gives us at least 3 reasons not to worry.

1) Life is more important than anything we could worry about. Later in this chapter in verse 33 Jesus instructs us to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” We get caught up in the physical but life is really all about the spiritual. What we need to do instead of worry is seek salvation and righteousness–these things are what is most important.

2) We are valuable to God. Jesus contrasts God’s care for us with His care for birds and the flowers in a field. God makes sure that the birds have food and the fields are clothed with grass and flowers. How much more will He see to the needs of creatures made in His own image? (Genesis 1:27) God knows everything that we need and because He made us and loves us He provides. What we need to do instead of worry is trust Him.

3) It won’t do anything. Jesus asks, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Worrying isn’t going to change the situation or give you insight into the future outcome. What it will do is distract you and take your time and energy from what you should be doing. Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” What we need to do instead of worry is take everything earnestly to God in prayer and remind ourselves who God is and what He has done by being thankful.

This might seem overly simplistic. But it’s not! For the Christian there is not one situation that calls for worry. There is nothing happening in our lives that validates worry as a response. After our small group discussion about this I began to feel kind of stupid for the things I worry about.  I am so thankful for this reminder to keep my heart fixed confidently on my unchanging Father.

We had such a beautiful weekend! It’s been in the high 70’s outside, sunny and clear and with the time change it’s light so much longer! We have a nice park at our condo community so Sunday I took Tyler and he had such a blast on the swings and I had a blast just watching him!

I’ve been thinking a lot about prayer. It seems the last two weeks it keeps coming up and then my husband even preached about prayer in church this weekend. I’m thankful for the theme of reminders and instruction about this discipline and I definitely need some practical help.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:18

Each month my wonderful Pastor’s wife, Carlynn, gathers all the staff wives for two hours of fellowship, accountability, dinner, and my favorite part is that she teaches us about the life of a woman in history who embodies a characteristic we commit to working on that month. This month she shared Fern Nichols with us, who started Mom’s In Touch a group of moms who pray for their children and schools. Carlynn challenged each of us to commit to growing in prayer this month.

Then this weekend my husband, Bobby, had the opportunity to preach the main service of our church and his passage (1 Thessalonians 9-13) was about intercessory prayer.

Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again
and supply what is lacking in your faith.

1 Thessalonians 3:10

Bobby’s sermon was a strong reminder that I need to be passionate in my prayer on behalf of others. I can’t just have a nice list and read it off to the Lord each day. I need to care deeply for my brothers and sisters in Christ, concern myself with their needs and pray intensely for them. Something he said that really stood out is that I should ask God to make me a part of the answer. I should be eager and willing to be used by Him in any way for the person I’m praying for.

Both of these teaching times came together for two prayer commitments I’ve started this month. One is to extend my focused time of prayer each day by doubling that time. It still doesn’t seem like that long, because sometimes when I sit down to pray in the mornings I feel rushed and then not as purposeful. I don’t want my prayer time to be something I check off a list, but where I set aside concentrated time to pour my heart before the Lord and not be rushing on to other things.

The second is a very practical addition to my prayer time. Each day I pray with a journal that is made up of seven tabbed sections (one for each day) and has pages in it with things I’m praying for that day–mostly Scriptures and names. My husband is the high school pastor at Compass and I serve along side him by ministering to the girls. I love these girls and the ministry we have for them is one of the biggest passions on my heart. I made five new pages for my notebook so I can apply what I learned by interceding day and night for these girls! The pages are broken down by our five mid-week small groups so I can do one each weekday that has the names of each girl who attends that small group listed with a space so I can write next to it. I would like to use a good amount of my extended time to pray specifically for them and their needs.

I’m excited about these two things and always bringing all kinds of prayers before the Lord because He is listening!

Over the weekend Bobby and I had the opportunity to go to Compass’s Marriage Retreat. Bobby was the “Master of Ceremonies” and the retreat donned a Western theme which means that Bobby brought his best accent and even dressed up in a cowboy costume to set the tone, boots and all! Saturday night the activity was Texas two-stepping, barn dancing and the cowboy cha-cha. I’ve never done any Western dancing, but it was so fun!

Usually at marriage retreats the teaching addresses such topics as husband/wife roles, communication or intimacy. And all of those are relevant topics to marriage but I was tremendously blessed by what Pastor Mike challenged us on–to make the goal of our marriages the glory of God and the glory of His gospel.

Pastor Mike opened the weekend with Romans 11:33-36

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

The heading for this passage is “Doxology” a Greek word which means glory, honor, praise, and weight. The concept of “weight” was profound to me, that in my marriage I need to do all things to give weight to who God is.

I can get in the housekeeping zone where I’ve got the laundry going and the dishwasher going, I’m scrubbing the shower and Bobby came home asking for something to eat, but I just kept working. Having a clean house is a good thing and is definitely on my list, but if I was so consumed with my house being neat and orderly that I wouldn’t stop to serve my husband’s immediate need or maybe reach out to a friend with a phone call or spend time witnessing to my neighbor, then my priorities are out of order. This affects my marriage but even more so my relationship with the Lord.

One thing I came away from retreat with was that knowing Him must always be the priority. I was convicted that I need to do whatever it takes to keep that time each morning to spend with the Lord–studying His Word and in prayer. Not because it will benefit myself or my marriage but because He is God and is the only one worthy of glory.

The second big point hit home for me was that we can express the gospel to others. In the last session Pastor Mike talked about how amazing the gospel is in eight words!

Thoughtless Transgressions – we all sin, we have all “crossed the line” of God’s law. (Jeremiah. 3:12)

Real Damage – Because of our sin we are separated from God. (Isaiah. 59:2)

Indomitable Love – When I got home I looked up indomitable. It means “incapable of being subdued.” This is how God loves us, lost sinners. (Romans 5:6-8)

Complete Forgiveness — “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12)

With these eight words, Pastor Mike showed us how our marriages should bring glory to the gospel by expressing the gospel to each other. In our marriages there will be thoughtless transgressions that cause real damage, but we, as Christians, can choose to love because Christ first loved us (1 John 4:19) and we can grant complete and full forgiveness when someone has sinned against us. Our relationship should be an expression of the gospel by exemplifying these dynamics. The first four words are always present, the last four I am able to, as a recipient and participant in the gospel, do to others!

What an incredible reality that we as small sinful people can bring glory to our glorious God! I can love my husband because God first loved me and I must forgive my husband because I will never have to forgive him or any other person as much as God has forgiven me.

I’m glad I took down a lot of notes because with the motivation of God’s glory I will be striving to change many practical things as a wife and in my marriage over the weeks and months!

Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.

Psalm 115:1

One Sunday morning several years ago my husband walked out of the bathroom ready to go to church. Right away I noticed that his tie and shirt did not match. So I said sarcastically, “You’re not going to wear that tie are you?” What followed was a difficult moment because obviously he was going to wear it. Finally he replied in a slightly irritated tone, “Yes, what’s wrong with it?” So I proceeded to tell him.

Later as I thought about this incident, I realized that my question must have made him feel foolish. If he had answered, “No, I’m not going to wear it,” he would have been lying because he already had it on. If he had answered, “Yes I am going to wear it,” it was apparent that I thought he looked ridiculous. There was no gracious was for him to change his tie without feeling foolish. As I thought about how I made him feel, I also thought about the Scripture that admonishes a wife to “see to it that she respect her husband” (Ephesians 5:33).

I know that as his “helper suitable” (Genesis 2:20) that he needed my help, not my sarcastic “put down.” My first responsibility before God in this situation was to be respectful and my second was to make helpful suggestions.

The Excellent Wife, p. 107

Most women probably see Martha Peace’s scenario as inconsequential. Her husband was wearing a bad tie and she gave him a hard time for it…what’s the big deal? But amidst he story, Peace quotes God’s command to us in Ephesians 5:33–a wife must respect her husband–this instruction puts the whole story into perspective. You and I are to respect our husbands. This is a command. It isn’t conditional or up for debate. We must obey it.

As I read chapter ten from Martha Peace’s The Excellent Wife I was struck with conviction about how I do not respect my husband. Something I do that I had not really considered to be disrespect came to light. I tend to be sarcastic with my husband making comments very similar to Peace’s story above. Seeing that has helped me to watch what I say before I speak to my husband and also to look for ways to show my respect for him and discipline myself to slow down and remember that God commands me to do this.

re·spect

high or special regard, esteem, honor, deference

Several friends have expressed to me a great struggle with this command. They don’t feel that their husband deserves or has earned their respect so they only give it to him conditionally. But God doesn’t tell us to respect our husbands based on what he is doing right, how he treats us, or if we deem them worthy. We are to respect him because God tells us to and because of his position.

“Christ is the head of every man and the man is the head of woman,
and God is the head of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:3

God has instituted positions of authority in our homes, churches and government. Each of these positions are to be respected simply for the fact that God has appointed each person to be that authority and commands us to respect them. Your husband might be making terrible decisions, not be the leader you want him to be and may not even be a Christian. But if you are a Christian wife you are called to respect him. “You may be smarter, wiser, or more gifted than your husband, but you are still to respect the position that God has given him.” (The Excellent Wife, 109)

Our heart attitude, actions and words are to be conducted with respect. When you disagree or confront your husband, do it with respect. When you pick up after him in your home, don’t grumble in your heart, do it with respect. If he asks you to do something don’t sigh and roll your eyes, respond with respect. This isn’t something that comes naturally to us. We must work at it and it will take time and prayer to make progress. I hope you are willing to evaluate your respect for your husband and commit to being obedient to God’s command doing whatever that means you need to change.

Two weeks ago, after we were in Texas visiting my in-laws, we flew to Florida for a Tuesday through last Friday vacation to Disney World. We had been given free flights there and free hopper passes to the theme parks and we had such a fun time together!

Last Sunday was Tyler birthday. We had a wonderful little party to celebrate his two years. Everyone was so thoughtful in giving gifts to Tyler–all kinds of Finding Nemo goodies, puzzles, books, a little backpack and a bunch of clothes. Instead of a cake I made jumbo cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles. Tyler was hilarious. He just ate all of the frosting off and then said, “All done!”

To see a small album of pictures from our trip and Tyler’s birthday, please click HERE!

We also just had an exciting weekend at Compass Bible Church. We had a ministry fair that encouraged people from our congregation to serve. We also had a parents meeting for our high school ministry. Bobby and I really want to partner with them in discipling the students.

All of these things have caused me to consider God’s goodness. He has blessed me with a wonderful family, both here at home and at church. A couple of weeks ago Pastor Mike preached from Psalm 100 which talks about God’s goodness and how we need to respond by celebrating Him.

1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.