DON’T SWEAT ANY STUFF!

You might be familiar with a book called Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff. It’s a book devoted to meditations on not worrying about the myriad of things we tend to stress over in life. It has spawned a number of other books, including a series by Bruce Bickle and Stan Janz called God is in the Small Stuff…and It All Matters.

Early last week, I began to stress over a potential life change I have no control over. Forgive me for not mentioning it in specific but that is part of the point of this post. Mind you, the change is no small thing and with no disrespect to the authors of the first title above, this is NOT small stuff.

As with most change, I feel stress. What is on the other side? Will my family and I be taken care of? Where is God in the midst of all this? All of these things I began to lift to my Father in heaven. IN the midst of those prayers, I was directed back to a familiar portion of Scripture in Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

Be anxious for NOTHING, but in ALL things by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7, emphasis added.

There are many things we stress over day to day and it’s small stuff. God invites us to give these to him through prayer. Somewhere along the way, I think I learned that the bigger the issue, the more right I had to be stressed and live in that stress. Go ahead, I reasoned, don’t sweat the small stuff. But if it’s big, then make sure you take the stress seriously!

What dawned on my conscious was that there is NOTHING I should be stressing over in a persistent manner. ANYTHING that would concern my heart should become a signal to seek my Father’s face.

As I have done this with the potential change, I have found His peace in the remembrance that I am his beloved and He will take care of us. He has not alleviated the circumstances nor made life easier. The situation is still unsettled at best. He has made me aware that HE is aware. How much more then should I sweat anything? As Jesus told us in his mountain top sermon, “Do not worry then …”

We just returned from Hartland Christian Camp, where the speaker reminded us that God has a Sabbath rest for us that we enter into only as we allow God to lay bare our souls before Him and His word (Hebrews 4). As we give up control and the things that control us, God gives us mercy. He reminds us that Jesus was tempted as we were in these same things and persevered without sinning. He knows our stress first hand and invites us to rest.

I am not claiming victory at this point. Along with this potential change is my concern for where life is going in the future. I do not feel like I have any say in the script as much as I would like to write it. What I do have is a new scripture focus for this season of life. Don’t stress ANY stuff, but learn to rest in the Lord. That rest comes with an exchange – give the Lord control over the script and He will keep my heart at rest. Give up my control and He will see to it we are cared for. Check back with me in a week or two to see how rested I am.