Thursday, November 4, 2010

Listen

Worry.  Anxiety.  Stress.  It comes down to one solution. TRUST. The thing is . . . if trust is missing . . . it is impossible to live without worry, anxiety, and stress. 

For a variety of reasons we come to places in life where we can't trust God, Ruler of heaven, earth, and all creation.  When you think about it . . . being unable to trust God . . . is ridiculous.
What do we do to get to the point of failing to trust God?
We all know the answer.
We put trust in ourselves or others or circumstances, which apparently makes sense at the time.
We fail to realize God is our God.  
Listen to the conversation between God and Moses:   "I've listened to the complaints of the Israelites. Now tell them: 'At dusk you will eat meat and at dawn you'll eat your fill of bread; and you'll realize that I am God, your God.'" (Exodus 16:11-12, The Message)

God listened to the complaints.  God responded.  The Exodus people had to make the choice to trust what God said; however, they could not seem to trust.  God said He would provide bread at dawn and meat at dusk.  Trust would have required them to trust what God said rather than what they could see in the moment.  It may have seemed like a very long time between the dawn and the dusk as the minutes slowly went by in the hot, arid dessert.  The "inbetween" moments would have been a logical time to listen to worry.

As it does so often, worry begins a conversation in our mind and we listen.  Consequently, we open the door to anxiety and before we know it, stress takes hold of the body, mind, and soul. 

How many times do we listen to worry rather than to what God says?

God tells us over and over not to worry.  But.  We do.

Intentionally stop and listen:
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done (Philippians 4:6, NLT).

Listen to Philippians 4:6.   Don't worry.  Instead pray, trusting God to listen. God listened to the Exodus people; He listens to you and I. As the day wears on . . . refuse to listen to worry . . . intentionally  listen to God.


Learning to KickStart the day listening to God,

Kerrie

(written by Kerrie L. Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)