A Challenge To Give It All To The Lord
I always love a good challenge. I feel like I often am challenging myself to change something or try something new. Though I feel like these challenges to myself only consist of things that effect me on this earth. Things that are a bit more tangible.
Then there are the challenges of the heart. And THAT is challenge I have been working on this past week, and I must say it has been one of the biggest ones thus far. A truly life-changing challenge.
Is your life ever overcome with fear? Anxiety? Worry? I have to say that I can be a worry-wart at it’s finest. I admit I am a LOT better than I used to be, but if one could worry about something, I’d probably think of it.
In youth group, Dan has been teaching on spiritual gifts. This past week we took “the tests” to determine what our gifts are. It was a lengthy one, but a good one at that. I realized that a higher gift, though not top 3, was faith. I was a bit taken back by that. Why? Well I admit I have faith in most avenues of life and have a deep trust in God’s plan for me. Then there are those little things that creep in, that steal that faith away and is replaced by fear.
And that is nothing but the enemy worming his way into my life, destroying parts of my faith in it’s path. And that really bothers me. In fact, that thought has challenged me this past week that anytime any thought of worry crept in, I would stop and give it to the Lord.
I know, I know, I should have been doing that a LONG time ago – giving my fears and worries to the Lord. But trust me, when I’ve tried to give every worry to God, I’ve been doing a lot of praying! Not just a “oh no…” thought, but anytime a thought of “how is this going to go? How is God going to work that one out?” Even the smallest of thoughts, like wondering if we are going to all get colds again this season. I am working on giving them ALL to the Lord.
Practice, my friend, makes perfect! This may seem like a small challenge, in giving EVERY fear or worry to the Lord, but that is what He truly desires. As it says in the Bible in 1 Peter 5:7 – Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.
I like what it says in the verse prior – Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.
It is humbling to realize how much we need God in a day. But that is the life I want to be living – a life so in tune with Him, that there is no hesitation or forgetting to go to Him with my worries, cares, and praises.
Are you up for the challenge?
