Worry Less; Live More!

Just during the week leading up to Easter, my family and I went to a Christian concert in Baulkham Hills, about 2 or so hours from university. As we drove out to the venue to see MercyMe, Michael W. Smith and Ernie Haase and the Signature Sound play their concert; I could tell that the experience was going to be like no other, knowing that prolific Christian artists MercyMe was coming to Australia for the first time, and that Michael W. Smith’s last time to Australia was during 2005. As the lights dimmed and the concert started, I was caught up in the whole atmosphere of it, and as the concert continued and finished at 11:15pm, I started to think about how the concert was, and its good and bad points. Michael W. Smith’s set was the best, singing his worship hits and older tunes as he managed to still energise the crowd, especially when he was jumping up and down during the dynamic and uplifting ‘The River is Rising’. Even though he is indeed turning 55 in October, I can definitely see him going on for the next ten years, provided that he keeps reinventing himself towards the younger generation, without compromising his sound that he has had his whole career.

There was a special moment that occurred towards the end of Michael’s set. As he finished his song ‘Take Me Over’, he went off stage as the music kept playing. Everyone started to spontaneously sing ‘Agnus Dei’, one of his most famous songs. It was a total God moment, and the Holy Spirit was definitely there in the room as everyone corporately worshipped the Lord. The song could’ve gone on for a while, and Michael could’ve come back for an encore performance, but during the song, the Compassion International ad started to play on the screen. Why did that happen? Surely the operator who was controlling that aspect should’ve thought, ‘Gee, there is a moment here that I don’t want to disturb…’ Perhaps it was on timer, perhaps not, but looking back on it, there was a moment there that was disturbed. But sometimes I can get a little upset about something that when I look back on hindsight, it is not worth it to. If I started to worry, there would be a very long list about what happened on that night. The sound throughout the whole night was scratchy and loud. There were blinding lights, almost like a concert and show rather than a worship experience. MercyMe came up on stage and played their set without keyboardist Jim Bryson without giving any explanation as to where he was or why he wasn’t there. And Ernie Haase’s set went, in my opinion, a tad too long, going for just as long as Michael’s and MercyMe’s set, even though it was my belief that Ernie Haase was support for the other two.

I can sit back and look at my long list of things wrong with the night of worship, and complain and say ‘Well, Michael didn’t sing This is Your Time’, or ‘the t-shirts and cds were too expensive’; but I know that the bible never tells us to live like that. We should look at the whole situation, and be thankful. It was a once in a lifetime chance to see Michael W. Smith and MercyMe in concert, and I am totally happy that I did go. Rather than finding fault, we should just enjoy the moment, and live like how Christ lived. So what if the music was loud on the night? So what if there was a glitch in the Compassion Video-worship moment issue? What is at the heart of the issue that is before us? That we expect everything to go off without a hitch? That we want everything to be in a certain way and when it isn’t we decide to criticise and question?

We need to worry less and live more. Worry has scientifically been linked to many ailments and diseases, from high anxiety, panic, to emotional stress. The flight or fight responses in our body are triggered by excessive worry; causing the nervous system to release certain stress-related hormones which can increase sugar levels. With excessive worry, physical effects and reactions could manifest through dizziness, headaches, nausea, even shortness of breath and an inability to concentrate. Worrying results in physical symptoms and reactions. But the bible also commanded us not to worry. We are met with Jesus in the beginning of Matthew, speaking to thousands of people about this very topic. As Jesus explained to these people, ‘…If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds…’ (Matthew 6:25-26).

We are worth more than anything to God. That is why He takes all the care that He does to looking after His children, giving gifts and showing signs to point us along the path that He is wanting for us. We need to believe how much we are worth to God so that we will stop worrying about our lives and start worshipping the God who has captured our hearts. Britt Nicole’s recent song ‘Gold’; speaks of how we shouldn’t be afraid to claim who we are in Christ, because we know that our identity isn’t tied up in worry, stress, achievements, whether a concert goes smoothly, but who we are and who we will be is based upon what Christ did for us. We’re worth more than gold, and we really should take this encouragement and run with it. As I reflect on the concert during Easter, I am amazed about how there were little reminders through both Michael and Bart (lead singer of MercyMe) and how they conveyed through mini-sermons’ that God is personable, and that He loves us, but not only that, He loves to hang out with us. He is God, and even if nothing happened for the rest of our lives, even if He stopped answering every prayer, He will still be God and He will still be worthy of our praise. He holds everything in His hands, and though there are moments in our life when we coming across hardship and calamity; God is still there in the midst of it, saying ‘I am here to be your way out!’.

But sometimes in these moments of hurt and despair, we may find it difficult to hear His voice. We may struggle with hurt; and question whether the healer even has a plan for us, coming out of this mess. But herein lies the notion that even though if God told us why; why this happened or that happened, things won’t hurt any less. It is a struggle, but God is always there to be with us, and during these moments when the Hurt and the Healer collide, God is standing there right with us saying, ‘you are precious to me, and I will use your situation to build you up, to strengthen your relationship with me, because I believe you are worth me coming down to earth to die for you!’. You are worth more than GOLD! Time to start believing it, and know that the Healer is always with us, ‘...to the very end of the age…’ (Matthew 28:20).

As I finish off this, let me ask you a question. Do you often worry, like me? Read through the promises of God and what He has spoken over your life. He is always faithful!

Til next blog;

Jon.

We are Not the Sum of Our Choices!

It has only recently that I’ve actually come to terms that society in the west is rich, in a material sense. We have a home to live in, parents that love us without any conditions, a great educational system that is dedicated to helping students reach their potential, we have food on the table and a bed to sleep in. We even have a gaming console or two, a flat screen TV, a few laptops around the house, as well as kitchen appliances that make cooking all the more easier. We have the option to go to a good university once we finish school. We can choose which career path to take, or whether we would like to take a gap year and travel. We also have the choice about whether to watch TV, see movies, listen to music, or whether to go to the shops during the day or at night time. We live in a society that has a smorgasbord of choices in front of us. We have that choice, but sometimes we can lose sight that many people do not have that. They are maybe born in a war torn country, or they could live in an unstable home environment; or they may have a limited choice range in terms of their education. Whatever the case may be, we need to take a step back from living on autopilot, doing our daily chores; and to ponder and realise that we cannot take the choices that we have for granted. We have to realise that the opportunities that we individually and socially have are not to be overlooked.

We should enjoy what we do have right now, because we never know when it is gone. It is one of the things that it certain about our lives is that when times are good, when we have the choices that make our lives better, we can’t just live the life expecting that the good times will last forever; because it doesn’t. Hard times will come. Jesus Himself said that, that ‘in this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world!’ (John 16:33). Isn’t that an awesome feeling? That even in the bad times, we can still celebrate knowing that God has overcome sin and death to bring us back to Himself? Sometimes it is hard to understand that there will be times in our lives when the choices that we have taken for granted will disappear, and all that is left that we can cling on is our knowledge that God is faithful and is with us always. But I truly know that when this day comes, I can say with full confidence that the Lord will bring us out, and though the hard times in our lives aren’t caused by God, it is used by God nonetheless in order for Him to shape us into the godly men and women that He wants us to be.

We have choices everyday in abundance. We may think that we don’t have everything that we want, and when we see adverts on television, we are told that if we purchase this sofa lounge, or this television, or that house or that car, then we’d be on the path to fulfilment and happiness. But we know that we don’t need all these things to be happy. We don’t need to be rich in order to feel rich. We have our family, our friends, those around us that truly understand how we feel; that gives us the option to always come to them when we feel like we have no one else to talk to. And once again we mustn’t believe into this lie that the choices that we make define us- because that’s what we’ve been told; by the media, by our friends, sometimes even by our family. ‘Oh, you better make good choices in life because whatever you make now will change your life forever, and this choice will define you in the years to come,’ they may say. We believe that because we’ve been around it so much in our lives then we start to think, ‘it must be true.’ But we all know that this shouldn’t be the case; that the choices we make shouldn’t define our character; our personality; or our values. God knows who we are. He made us, fashioned man in the image of Him; knew us even before we were an idea in our parents head. We don’t need to believe that the things we have or don’t have, or the choices that we make, determine our lives. This is our identity: we are the children of God; and God loves to give good gifts to His kids. He will never leave us, and always reassures us that the choices we make don’t matter and we are sons and daughters of the King of Kings; that when He stood there on the cross and died and rose again for all of humanity; everyone’s sin was paid. All we need to do is to just believe into that.

I am reminded by a Tenth Avenue North song, 'You are More', where the lyrics speak truth and proclaim that we are more than the sum of our past mistakes, because Jesus was ransomed and bought the punishment that should’ve been on us, and placed it upon Himself. But then there are some people around the world that have a hard time believing this truth that we are made holy and blameless in the sight of God when He died for their sins. They may feel like they have done unspeakable things, made choices; that led them to the way that they are right now, that maybe if they try harder, do better, and move their life on the right track, the acceptable track, then maybe God will accept them, then maybe God will love them. But the converse is instead true. God loves and accepts us the way we are, and we need to tell everyone about this. Once we understand that we are heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven, then we’ll feel rich, like a million dollars, even when we may not have much.

The choices we make don’t make us who we are as people. We have choices everyday, and the choices we make have consequences about what happens in the future. And people in less fortunate situations have fewer choices to make everyday, but same goes for them, those choices they make have consequences too. But for all of humanity, whether rich or poor, conformable or not; our future, our past, even our present don’t define us. We are loved by the King of the universe, enough so that ‘…he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross…’ (Philippians 2:6-8). Jesus did this, and this is who we are.

We should enjoy what we have now, and know that even if hard times come, God will work everything that occurs to His glory, and though we may not understand the situations in our lives that we believe God has the ability to change but doesn’t, God is still working in our lives, putting people and circumstances in place so that as people we have our best shot at knowing and having a relationship with Him. It is our relationship with Jesus that makes us who we are. Not our choices or family expectations. So next time you are bombarded with choice, on the TV, or in the grocery shops or bookstores, clothes stores or digital media outlets, think to yourself ‘Will this ___ further my relationship with God?’ Because even though our choices don’t define us, generally not so clever or not thought out choices do have ramifications as to where we end up. It’s a tricky topic- choices. And it’s bound to create further discussion until the end of time. But what I know is that the choices I make shouldn’t affect how I perceive myself in relation to my communion with God. God loves me the way that I am, but also loves me enough to not let me stay the way that I am. We all should continually be growing, spiritually to become like Christ.

As I finish this, what choices do you make everyday that you think you need to reassess in your life? What steps would you need to take to hear what the Lord is trying to say to you about these choices?

Until next blog,

Jon.