How many times have you read and heard the scripture, Matthew 6:25-34, below?
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
I’m sure you’re familiar with this scripture; have quoted it many times and have been encouraged by it when going through an unresolved situation that you can’t stop thinking about.
This scripture gives us insight into what God thinks about you worrying. It’s obvious that:
He knows there will be times when you worry
He cares that you don’t worry
He knows worrying isn’t good or productive for your life
He wants you to trust Him to take care of your needs
However, even though you know this, you may still be challenged with worrying. As a human being, especially in the age you live in, there are many things you can control which make you feel secure. Yet, there are also those unexpected or hard events in life that come up and remind you that you don’t have much control at all, magnifying God’s presence in your life.
We’d all like to be Spiritually-Mature Women of God and have faith like a ROCK! But I know you’re challenged. You may have read that scripture and it encouraged you for a moment but then you found yourself worrying again. And maybe you’ve felt bad because in your heart, you want to trust God but your mind wants to control the problem. Still you want to see God’s presence work in your life and prove all the naysayers wrong because you stayed steadfast in Him. And so you go on a roller-coaster between faith and worry.
I want you to approach this in a new way. Instead of completely trying to transplant yourself smack dab in the middle of Faith, see yourself as “Progressing to Faith”. In other words, see walking in Faith as a process. Faith is not like something that you can just make happen in a moment’s notice like magic. Even the twelve disciples struggled with this. You'll find yourself disappointing yourself over and over again. You have to always be progressing in faith. In other words, practice faith and get better each time. If you failed today, trust harder next time.
Here’s how the Holy Spirit helped me get stronger in Faith:
The most important thing is your relationship with God. The stronger the relationship, the stronger the faith. God knows when you’re pretending. So, the first thing to do is to not pretend that you’re trusting God with the situation when you know you're not. You must be honest in your relationship with Him. Tell Him why you’re staggering in Faith. Here's a good way. Get in His Presence by Praying and Meditating;
Visualize being in His Presence. His Presence is covering you and protecting you. Begin to feel safer than you’ve ever been. Where others have failed you, know God isn’t like that. Let your heart fill with so much of His love. What does that love feel like for you? Think of the times He’s come through for you. Think of the times where pure Love showed up in your life. Feel this love. Accept this Love. Trust this Love.
Let your soul Speak! Give God your worry, your cares, and your heart. Bring it to the surface as ugly as it is. Give sound to your heart. Sing a hymn. Speak in tongues. Let your spirit groan. Bring up the mess.
Visualize your situation all out on the table. Then see that love that you thought about that came from God; all those moments He brought you through; all the times He gave you Victory; all the moments of Love He planted in your life. See that Love wrap around the situation like a ball; see love seeping into the cracks of the problem. Watch the problem suffocate.
See yourself under the wings of the Almighty. Soak there for a while. To end, thank God for taking care of you and increasing your faith.
Read Psalm 91
Following this exercise, if you find yourself worrying, remember the ball of love that God has placed around the situation. That is what you walk with. That is what you will see in your mind’s eye instead of the actual situation.
The next best thing to do is to live your life as if the situation is taken care of. Do what you’d usually do if that situation didn’t exist. Get proper rest and focus on the love in your life. Hug someone! Focus on the things that are doing well for you. Where are you growing? Where are you slaying life? When you find that you need to free your mind, engage in something that will keep your mind occupied in a positive way. I particularly like the treadmill. You’d be surprised that when you occupy your mind with something positive and not the situation you were worrying about, the Holy Spirit will give you answers. The Holy Spirit has spoke to me many times on the treadmill.
You see, when you’re not worrying, the Holy Spirit can talk to you because you’ve let down your fear. Worry and fear gets in the way of His guidance and creativity in your life. He wants to speak to your heart but your conscious creates a block with being fearful. Let God speak to your heart by working on those road blocks that work against faith.
Be determined to become a Faithwalker! Can you imagine how God will be able to use you when you do? So never Give Up! Try the exercise above. Each time you will get stronger and stronger. You’ll start to feel weird when a situation arises and you’re not worrying lol. You’ll be thinking something is wrong with you. You will feel strange. Your spirit will be so strong that you will be living your life while others look at you and can’t believe you’re being so positive.
What good are we if we talk the talk and don’t walk the walk. My prayer for you is to be a Faithwalker who actually changes things in the Spirit Realm! We have enough church goers but not enough power in the earth. I pray your strength in His Presence. If you’re going through something right now and you try this exercise, let me know how it changes you after a few months.