“He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters.”
Psalm 23:2 (NIV) Are you always in a hurry? Is your to-do list unrealistically long? Has more than one person ever told you to slow down? Do you feel guilty when you relax? Do you have to get sick to take time off? The pace of modern society pushes us to keep going and going and going. Many people work even on their day off. And those who go to a church service often head home afterward only to dive right into work (whether it’s housework, schoolwork, or career work), trying to do all the stuff they didn’t accomplish during the regular workweek. No wonder we’re exhausted! Most of us are maxed out. But that’s not the way of the Good Shepherd. Psalm 23:2 says, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters” (NIV). God makes you lie down in green pastures—that’s rest. And he leads you beside quiet waters—that’s refreshment. God, in his goodness, created rest, and he considers it as important as work. A loving shepherd makes sure his sheep get enough rest to stay healthy. It’s the same with God, your Good Shepherd. If you won’t lie down, God will make you lie down. Sometimes the only way God can get you to look up is to lay you flat on your back. He will do that because he cares about your physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Isn’t it amazing how much better things look after a good night’s sleep? The difference between being stressed and being blessed is often rest. A lot of your worry, hurry, scurry, and restlessness comes from not understanding the goodness of God in your life. When you understand what God has done for you and wants to do for you in the future, you can relax, let go, and learn to rest. You can live in the goodness of God.
0 Comments
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
1 Peter 5:7 (NLT) It takes more than willpower to stop worrying—but you already know that, because you’ve already tried it. You’ve thought, “I shouldn’t worry about this,” yet it stays on your mind. Here are four steps to help you stop worrying: Get to know God. Jesus says in Matthew 6:32, “People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things” (The Message). If you don’t have a relationship with God, you have every reason to worry. That’s why you need to get to know God! As a believer, you have a heavenly Father who has promised to take care of you. You are God’s child, and children get special privileges. When you worry, you are acting like you don’t have a loving Father who is with you and for you. Put God first in every area of your life. Matthew 6:31-33 says, “Don’t worry at all about having enough food and clothing . . . your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them, and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life” (TLB). Anytime you take God out of the center of your life and put anything else there—no matter how good it is—you’re going to worry. Live one day at a time. The Bible says, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34 NCV). If you’re worrying about tomorrow, you can’t enjoy today. Also, when you’re always worried about tomorrow, the future gets overwhelming. But God promises to give you the grace and strength you need when you need it. Right now, you only need enough power for today. Trust God to care. “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7 NLT). How do you do that? One way is to memorize God’s promises in the Bible. They’re like an insurance policy for believers. When you know something’s covered, you don’t worry about it anymore. Another way to trust God is to pray. If you prayed as much as you worried, you’d have a lot less to worry about. What’s the result of taking these four steps? “You will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand” (Philippians 4:7 TLB). |
AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
All
Archives
July 2024
|