Last time I said some things about don't worry....be happy! Worrying is what Satan wants us to do about everything! That is how he steals our joy.

Joy is something quite different from happiness...but I don't want to play word games... Someone said something very significant about worrying. That someone was Jesus and what He said was pretty simple..... "do not worry about your life . . . ." Oswald Chamber's take on that one is...."Don’t take the pressure of your provision upon yourself." I like that. You see, when I worry about my "provision" for anything, it simply means I do not believe that God can look after the practical details of my life. It is always the practical details of my life that I worry about.....enough food on the table, paying the mortgage, clothes I need to buy, the kid's tuition, too many things to do today (yes, even what I do because I do too many things trying to provide, instead of asking Him what I should do.) :)

Those are all things He promises to supply, so when I worry it is because I really think it depends on me and not on God.....I simply refuse to trust Him to provide.

I've heard religious people quote this as if it were in the Bible (it's not!) "God helps those who help themselves." It's a lie. God helps us when we surrender ourselves to Him and trust Him for our provision. Oswald uses the word abandon ..... I love that word. It expresses what I see needs to happen.....I need desperately to work past my intellect and abandon myself to His care, His purposes, His provision and just trust Him! When I do that I step out into His joy....His happiness....whatever word works for you..... doesn't matter.... It's not about words... it's about reality..... something we need to experience.

Try it..... great place to live..... what's to lose? Maybe you'll see what I'm talking about.

:)