Be Anxious for Nothing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_7XIKVgRGY

Letting Go ~ Steffany Gretzinger

 

Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything… ~ Philippians 4:6 AMPC

Do not be anxious about anything… ~ NIV

Be careful for nothing… ~ KJV

 

“Be careful” or “be anxious” is from a Greek word meaning, “to be troubled with cares,” (blueletterbible.org).

“Troubled” means, “to be stressed or agitated mentally,” (dictionary.com).

“Nothing” means, “nothing; no thing; not anything,” (blueletterbible.org).

 

Be anxious—troubled; stressed or agitated mentally—with the cares of nothing—not anything.

 

Philippians 4:6 is a command. This command is a personal, plural imperative. You—all of you reading this—do it. Decide. Choose and follow-through. The follow-through, however, is not a physical action. It’s a mental focus shift. You’re not physically picking out your clothes. You’re mentally picking out your thoughts. Instead of shorts or jeans, you’re choosing to worry and have distress—or to not worry and not have distress, or other mental agitation.

 

When God gives a command, He knows He’s enabled us to do it.

 

This is the mental shift, where the rubber meets the road.

Step 1: Rejoice always!

Step 2: Let your gentleness shine.

Step 3: Be anxious for nothing.

 

Choose to be anxious for no thing. Decide to not be troubled with the cares of anything.

 

God’s not calling us to be uncaring. He’s calling us to not get bogged down in worrying about the people and things about which we care. He’s setting us up for success. To get there, however, we must each choose to follow through on His command. We must choose to be anxious for nothing.

©Heather Potts 2023

Known and Loved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVVlMQved8k

You Know Me ~ Steffany Gretzinger

 

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.

~ Psalm 139:1 NIVUK

 

What do athletic socks, a fake plant, and a watermelon have in common? They were all birthday gifts given by women who know me. They know what I need, can handle, and enjoy. Gifts are fun to receive. Some gifts will make you laugh, some will bring you delight, and some will touch a tender spot in your heart, as you realize how well you are known and loved.

 

David, the youngest and smallest son of Jesse, expressed his awe of God in the Psalms. Though David may have been overlooked by his earthly family, his heavenly Father knew and loved him completely:

You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
 You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely, (Psalm 139:2-4)

You are familiar—intimately acquainted—with all my ways… David felt safe in the hands of his God who knew him: his praise and doubts, his rejoicing and rejections, his good deeds and mistakes, his wins and his faults. The Lord knew all these things, and still loved him.

 

We all long to be known, and loved, like that. The same Lord who knew and loved David, knows and loves you. Our Father knows, loves, honors, cares for, created, designed, corrects, disciplines, and teaches us in a personal way. He knows your past and is fully aware of the things you’ve endured and had to overcome; He’s seen your future and knows the preparation you still require to be victorious; He was with you yesterday, He’s journeying with you now, and still, He loves you. You, dear child, are fully known and fully loved.

©Heather Potts 2022

My Mask Smells Like a Diaper

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ejs2o-uhu4&list=RD-Ejs2o-uhu4&start_radio=1&t=12

No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus ~ Steffany Gretzinger

 

O God, you are my God,

earnestly I seek you;

My soul thirsts for you,

My body longs for you,

In a dry and weary land

Where there is no water.

~ Psalm 63:1 NIV

 

Have you ever had one of those days? The kind when you’re already running late for school and your kid suddenly can’t find their water bottle. You find the water bottle and dash out to the car, where she tells you she forgot her snow boots. You finally make it to school with the water bottle and snow boots, only to learn her glasses are in the bathroom and her lunch is on the kitchen counter…

 

Or maybe it was on Sunday: Everyone is up on-time, but as you’re trying to walk out the door, your younger child cries because her older sibling isn’t going to kids’ ministry, so she won’t, either. You rush around finding (and filling) water bottles, and scramble to make sure the kids have something to do – since they’ve both decided to sit in the sanctuary with you. Everyone is certain their masks are in the car, so out you go, hoping to still make it to church on-time. But then in the car, one child can’t find her mask. It’s OK, because you have spares, but she doesn’t like those. After digging through the console, you think you’ve found a winner until she says, “My mask smells like a diaper…”

 

While those examples were meant to add some humor to your day, some days feel really rough. Honestly, I wasn’t laughing in those moments (though looking back, they were hilarious). It’s the hard days that can really leave you feeling dry and weary. If you read Psalms, you’ll see David understood those days. But still, “in a dry and weary land where there is no water,” he longed and thirsted for the Lord, alone.

 

Jesus promised, “whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst,” (John 4:14). If you’ve been feeling dry and weary, it’s time to turn to the One who offers us living water. For only in Him will you find refreshing and strength to persevere.

©Heather Potts 2021