I am starting the fifth month on World Race and my identity has experienced a wrecking crew of emotions, however, there has been something missing but I could not put a finger on it. So up to this point things have been good and God has been giving Tara and I dreams and desires for the future (more on that in future blogs as that becomes more clear) but something was still in the way. However, something was blocking the joy and fulfillment of beginning to understand what I would do with my life. But like in all struggles God continues to speak through His Word revealing truths about Himself and the best way to live this life; the best way to live this life in freedom. In Matthew 6:19-34 Jesus gives a powerful message that is in direct opposition to the whisperings of the World and those words shatter the bonds of the American Dream.
Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or – worse – stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
“Your eyes are windows into you body. If you open your eyes wide to wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!
“You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.
“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance that the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
“Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror even gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion – do think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers – most of which are never even seen – don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep you life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
Taken from The Message Remix
As many of you know Tara and I own a house back in Georgia and due to the current state of the economy could not give it away if we wanted to. In spite of the current economic situation God provided a person to rent our home while we are on World Race but that was not enough. In the beginning of this I told you God has been giving us plans and dreams for the future and owning a house in Georgia is not part of that. But even before we were dreaming about the future I was always occupied with an unsettling feeling of owning something I could not get rid of. This robbed my joy as I wrestled and worried about it in the back of my mind. The more I wrestled the more tired and defeated I became. All I could think about was will this dream ever come to reality, will I ever have everything in place to start a family. Although I never voiced them out loud I began to believe less and less in the dreams God had given us and became more enslaved to the endless cycle of the American Dream.
In that moment I had chosen who I was going to serve and for a brief time it enslaved my thoughts, my heart and my dreams. But God in his pursuing nature never stopped speaking truth into the lies. Then one morning as Tara and I where talking it broke. I broke. Truth had replaced the lies and I began to see the future for what it was. The future. The future no longer needed my plans and thoughts; it no longer needed my enslavement to itself. The future no longer needed my worries. In that moment I became content and overwhelmed with joy in the place that God had placed me. This was not the joy that you get when you score the game winning shot, but sustaining joy. Joy that only can come through freedom in Christ.
I do not know how to end this except with a simple phrase, “No worries!”
