WORSHIP OUTSHINES WORRY

"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."

 Phil 4:6-7 (MSG)

What was the climax of your day/week/month?  I know that if I'm honest with myself (which is not always easy!!) my mind tries to highlight the trials, challenges and worries.  I think things like "Well, I lost a client, but I'm working really hard to get another one", or "I still haven't forgiven myself for..., but I know that I must."

We're programmed to overcome, we're wired in such a way that we naturally need to fix and triumph in difficulties and hardships.  Our natural inclination is not to just sit back and relax - even if we are from Cape Town... it's just not natural.

When we have a worry, it sits with us.  We fast-forward and rewind through different possible outcomes in an effort to triumph.  Our mind becomes consumed with what we need to accomplish, finish, fix and repair.  Whether it's relationships or hardships; life can become all consuming.

The snag is this - it reduces our worship, and when our worship is reduced, GOD is reduced in our lives.

Grace reminds us that Life has overcome.  So, if we view things in reverse (from GOD's perspective) we see from the point of having overcome, not the point of having to overcome.  When we start with Jesus, we can see that the trials have already been won, the broken have been mended, the hurts have been restored.

This is what happens when we worship instead of worry.  Worship becomes the highlight of our day/week/month.  We fall asleep with praise on our lips and wake with GOD on our minds; we become warriors and not worriers.

Instead of worrying; we should pray.  We must not take things on in our strength; we should wait on GOD.  All of a sudden, we will see that GOD is no longer reduced in our lives but that His wholeness will start to fill our lives with His Life!

This is an awesome portrait of worship because it's all about Him!  It's all about the sufficiency of Grace to overcome without us having to lift a finger!  All we have to do is lift up a prayer.

May I encourage you today to say "No more worrying."  Put aside the things that hold you back and push you down and focus on the One who pulls you out of the miry clay and sets your feet upon the Rock.  May I encourage you to worship when you might worry, to pray when you might panic and to rest when you might resist.