Part I - Minimized Effectiveness

The birds of the air and the lilies of the field. They know what they are doing.

Worry is a lot of things. Worry is how we cope with things we can't handle. Worry is a waste of time. Worry is a defense mechanism. Worry is not going to solve anything. And most of all, worry is a lack of belief in the fact that God has our best in mind.

If we truly believe that God is in control and we then believe He loves us, then Jesus' words ring true: "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matthew 6:26-27, NIV).

Well, that is all well and good. But why is it so hard? We are in a battle here. What might cause someone to worry might not make someone else think twice. There might be something that would give you an ulcer, but it wouldn't phase someone else. . . Satan is wily. He is the father of lies. And our lack of faith in trying situations is not coincidentally tied with Satan's knowledge of what we struggle with. He is going to attack us in our weaknesses. He is going to tell us lies that build us up and tear our faith down.

Be ready. He gets us all comfortable and then just about when we are feeling pretty good about how great we are, we are attacked. Satan fights dirty. . .

I want my passion to matter

There are a lot of things that seem like they matter.

I get sidetracked by things that seem like they make a difference. I get suckerpunched by feelings of loyalty toward certain earthly things and finite products that fain importance. And then I get put in my place.

As passion emboldens us toward action we get immobilized by things that seem like they matter. In the context of what we have been given to be stewards of, we must be responsible with the talents the Master has left in our temporary possession. But even those talents are meant to drive ourselves to be more like the Master and the multiplication of assets ought to be eternal in their mindset.

If we get bogged into putting our faith into the things of this earth, we will awake one day with our arthritic, mutinous bodies wondering what happened to our one chance at life. But if our mindset remains fixed on the only Difference-maker, if our mental capacities remain focused on the furthering of the Kingdom of God and the emulation of the Ultimate Life-liver, Jesus, we might be so privileged to see that Kingdom coming to Earth.

There is no calling to which Believers must aspire that does not involve the spread of the Good News and the fighting of the Good Fight. If we spiral into the realm of meaninglessness where the Enemy draws us, we are not believing God for his best and we are not believing in His ability to work mightily more than we are able.

Don't worry about the temporal things because they will pass whether we pour our lives into them or not. Realize what things matter for eternity and focus on them. Or else we will lose the chance to be the Good and Faithful Servants who have been successful in the job put before us...