LEARNING TO LIVE LIGHT

STAYING FIT FOR THE RACE

"...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." 

            One of the things that plague more Christians than anything else is worry.  Folks let the littlest things in life become major obstacles, all because they think too much!  When I say "think too much" I simply mean they let things occupy their minds until it becomes a distraction.  Jesus said, "Take no thought for your life..." (Matt. 6:25).  The word used here for "thought" could better be rendered anxious or worried thought.  Later, in this same passage, Jesus said, "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Matt. 6:34).  It never really dawned on me until the Holy Spirit pointed this out, that having anxious thoughts about tomorrow is like trying to overcome the evil schemes of the enemy when at the moment they don't even exist!  It's like fighting in your dreams!  You are all worked up over things that could be, but have no guarantee will ever occur. 

            The reason why Jesus addressed this is because letting things that still have not come to pass occupy your thoughts (to the point where you are now filled with anxiety over them), is like swinging your fist at an illusion.  There is no way you can overcome such an opponent when in all reality he hasn't even showed up to the fight!

            I remember a time when I was out of work and was facing a very difficult financial struggle.  I started to let things occupy my thoughts until they began to weigh me down with care.  It was so subtle that I didn't even realize it at first. My mind started calculating what I had to work with and what I was obligated to take care of.  Even though things I was facing wasn't actually due for a couple of weeks I started letting care overwhelm me, because in my natural way of thinking I didn't have any income expected to come in.  Suddenly, the Holy Spirit spoke up in me with a very stern voice and said, "Why have you counted me out! You have assessed all you have and realized you don't have enough.  And yet, your concerns are way over into tomorrow and you are not even there!  Don't you know I can do in a moment what you could never do in a year?"  Immediately, I saw it!  By worrying about things that hadn't even come to pass I was taking on a weigh that didn't even really exist!  My tomorrow was causing me anxiety when tomorrow hadn't even arrived yet!

Everything about living by faith is NOW! Not tomorrow. Not down the road a piece, but living in the expectation of a living God who is an ever present help in a time of need! 

            I came to the realization that that is exactly what the enemy wants.  He wants us to take on more so that we become encumbered with things we cannot resolve even if we wanted to!  His entire strategy is to get us so burdened and worried about the future, that there is no way we could live in the ease of God's daily provision! No wonder Jesus said in his model prayer, "Give us "this day" our "daily" bread" (Matt. 6:11),  or why God would not let Israel gather more manna than their daily need (Exo. 16:18).  Everything about living by faith is NOW! Not tomorrow. Not down the road a piece, but living in the expectation of a living God who is an ever present help in a time of need!  This is what it means to live light!  It's learning how to stay free from the cares of life and things that occupy our tomorrows.

             I finally came to the point where now, when I lay my head down at night, all I need to think about is how my heavenly Father is already in my tomorrow, and maybe everything didn't go exacting as I planned today I know deep down on the inside if I want to live light, I have to learn to live in the rest that I serve a God who is well able to take care of whatever comes tomorrow!

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, I will not let worry pull me down.  I will not let the enemy deceive me into thinking that things about tomorrow are concerns I need to try to handle today. I trust you to meet all my needs and I will live in the rest that you care for me.  Today I choose to live light!  I cast off everything that wants to weigh me down, even those things that the enemy tries to make me worry about that hasn't even come to pass yet.  In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

CONFESSION

I am not a worrier.  I am not a doubter.  I am not one to wring my hands or fret about anything.  I have a heavenly Father who meets all my needs, and who is concerned about everything in my life.  I rest in him.  I will live light. I refuse to be burdened with the cares of life. 

DEFINING MOMENTS...

Have you ever noticed how an athlete who competes in the race always dresses light?  You and I are in a spiritual race.  There is finish line that we are seeking to reach.  How is it possible that we are to reach that end if every day we keep adding more to bear?   

We need to learn to live light.  There is something about letting go of all the things that try to weigh us down that it makes living for God so much easier.  We must decide to quit trying to make tomorrow fit into our today...Jesus said, "My yoke is easy. My burden is light" (Matt. 11:30).  In other words, live in the moment, enjoy the moment, trust in the moment, and let God take you to the next moment without you worrying about it!

In His Grace,

Pastor David

Faith Harvest Church