…continued from Tuesday

Yesterday as my husband and I were returning home from our morning walk, I saw a couple pieces of trash in our front yard.  I crossed down into the driveway and over into the lawn to retrieve the fast food cup and what I thought was a piece of paper.  I gingerly picked up the trash and was headed to the trash can when my husband said, “Let me see that.”  Taking a closer look he said, “This is the empty package for synthetic drugs!” I would have never picked it up, had I known what it was! I had just recently learned that synthetic drugs are legal at this time, and they give the “buzz” that the real drugs give.    Sadly, it was called Mary’s Joy. It’s sad that people think a drug can give them joy.  I stared at it in disbelief.  How ironic that this synthetic drug had such a name!

My mind went to Mary in Luke 10 – the Mary from Bethany who had welcomed Jesus into her living room, but more importantly into her heart.  She had joy – real joy at Jesus’ feet as she worshipped Him and listened to Him teach on that day.   There is nothing synthetic about joy that Jesus Christ gives when we worship Him!  It is true, lasting and deep joy that the world cannot manufacture, nor can they take it away! 

The next step to being cured from worry and anxiety is making sure that our lives line up each day with what Christ wants us to do.  Therefore, we must take a step back.  We step back so we can get a better perspective.  We step back and ask :

• Lord do I have the load in my wagon You want in there? In other words, am I doing only what you want me to do today?
• Have I added a load that You didn’t intend for me to carry?
• Am I carrying others’ loads? Johanna Weaver says, “Nothing is harder to bear than a burden we’re not called to carry.” Sometimes we get tired because we’re carrying things the Lord never intended for us to carry. 

If we’ve picked up someone else’s load, we need to put it down.   Also, if we see that the Lord has given us a load and we’ve neglected it, it’s time to obey and carry it.  Nothing is emptier than a life that doesn’t serve.  Because the Lord has done so much for us, we should want to serve Him!  We must be faithful and not set that ministry down for someone else to have to come along and pick up because of our negligence.  Johanna Weaver says, “20% of the church does 80% of the work.”  That wouldn’t happen if we each asked the Lord what He wants us to do and then did it!

We also need to ask:

• Am I carrying my load in the correct order?  Too often we get things misplaced.  Instead of putting our worship of Christ first in our day, we run hither and yon, doing this and that, carrying boulders we weren’t supposed to carry yet.  Then at the end of the day we’re too exhausted to sit at Jesus’ feet.  If we would have put in worship in our day first, all our other steps would be directed by His hand.  All along the day we need to ask:  Lord, do you want me to do this now?  He will show you and He will order your day in such a way that you will not be worried or upset, like Martha was!

After asking all these good questions, we then need to adjust.  Reorder your priorities.  Remove what shouldn’t be in your life and add those things that should be, as the Lord has directed you.  You know what the result will be?  You’ll be cured!  Your anxieties will be lifted.  If an interruption comes in your day, you’ll see that it was ordered by the Lord.  There’s peace there, my friend!  The Lord Himself will help you carry the load He has given you.  His yoke is easy and His burden is light!

What truths have pricked your heart?  Are you doing a good thing that isn’t what God has called you to do?  Are you doing things instead of spending time at His feet first?  Is your load out of order?  Stop and confess this to the Lord now and feel the burden lift!

With love, 

Polio is a disease that left many people crippled due to the virus entering their central nervous system and infecting and destroying motor neurons.  It led to muscle weakness and paralysis usually in the legs.  How wonderful when two vaccines were created that have nearly wiped out polio!  This cure has reduced worldwide incidences from an estimated 350,0000 cases in 1988 to 1,652 cases in 2007!  In these vaccines, a cure has been found!

Many Christians have a disease too!  It is a disease of worry and care – like that of Martha in Luke 10.  Jesus diagnosed her problem when she complained that her sister had left her alone to serve.  But He didn’t leave her in her sickened state- He offered her a cure…”do this one thing.”  The “one thing” was to worship Christ.  He invited her to sit at His feet.  When you and I do that, we take time for a cure from our worries, too.  To be cured, then, we must stop and

1. Take a look up.

This will require that we remove our hands from what busies us – our work, our computer, our crafts, our texting, the path on which we were headed.  Stop and look up.  Stare into Christ’s face.  This is far more than a quick glance.  This is more than reading a little devotional thought we get each day on our iPhone.  This is worship. Mary was sitting at Jesus feet, therefore she had to look up as He taught, and as she worshipped Him. This is taking time to adore and reverence Christ.

However, the distractions that hinder us are many:

• busyness
• our surroundings
• lack of heart
• stray thoughts
• feeling of being out of our comfort zone…Worship?  Really?

But there are cures for the distractions:

• Find a place that’s perfect for you – Martha had to exchange the kitchen for the living room.  If you need to have your time of worship in another room so you won’t be distracted, do it! 
• Play some quiet instrumental music (only if this will help you focus!)
• Have good lighting for reading
• Don’t be near a place where your work will call for your attention
• Get a basket to hold all the needed items –
• Bible
• Study book
• Journal
• Pen
• Highlighter
• Kleenex
• Note cards
• Pray and tell the Lord you’re struggling – He already knows!

• Keep a note pad nearby to write down your stray thoughts – “Pick up cleaning today!”
• Set the alarm 15-30 minutes earlier so you can meet with God before the family interrupts you
• Begin with prayer, asking God to speak to you
• Read God’s Word in a systematic way – not randomly
• Journal what God says as you read
• Sit and listen.  Wait!

God doesn’t reveal Himself to the casual seeker.  Psalm 27:8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.

Your greatest influence is your walk with God.  It’s not what you do or how much you do! Your work will have no value if it’s not Spirit filled or Spirit led.   This first part of the cure will help your worries, because the load is now given to the Lord during your time of worship!

to be continued…

With love,

P.S. I had an error on my lasagna recipe yesterday…don’t use 2 noodles!  Nine are needed.  Sorry!