Be Blessed With What You Have, Not Worried In What You Don’t Get
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(5) This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. (6) That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. (7) But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. (8) They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”’ (Jeremiah 17:5-8)
Man always seems to have a desire to have ‘more’. I battle this to some degree in at least one area; guns. I like guns, and there hasn’t been a gun that I didn’t like. Perhaps I didn’t prefer one, but if given the chance, with the right price tag, I’d probably buy it. I have been asked, ‘just how many guns do you need?’, and I have to truthfully answer, ‘just one more than I have right now.’ It’s like a kid in a toy store; the kid may have many toys at home, but there’s always toys that they want when they see all the toys that are available to them along the store’s shelves.
Now I do have restraint, thanks to the Lord, and the wisdom and common sense has stopped many purchases of items I would have made if I followed my feelings. But there are some, perhaps because they simply don’t have the limitations most of us do, to say ‘no’ and show restraint. Some of it can be seen as greed, but some desires are out of a thought of security. Hoarding is this desire to ensure one has what they think they need, taken to the extreme and out of control.
From a secular perspective, we have worries because we are unsatisfied with what we’ve already have; we want more to feel more secure. ‘Just one more’ is a not a goal but a trap; we worry about living longer, making more money, or having one more widget in our collections. We have, but we want more, and we worry that we will either not get ‘it’ or not get to keep ‘it’. This is what God is saying in Jeremiah 17:5-6; we will miss the blessings of what we have because we will not seek out what we already have been blessed with.
Jonah experienced God’s hand saving him from drowning by calling the big fish/whale to swallow Jonah and spit him out on dry ground, yet was worried about his wants (seeing Ninevah destroyed, then whining when his shade plant died) and not what God wanted or what God had already provided (God making him an evangelist, God providing the shade plant in the first place). Jonah is a righteous man who believed in the Lord, yet could not recognize the blessings he had.
Contrast this with Jeremiah 17:7-8; when we trust in the Lord and have Faith in Him we find we already have all that we need. The Spiritual perspective is not to keep what we have materially but keep what we have eternally. Job understood this, Jonah somewhat missed the memo. Job understood that God is the only thing he needed, and in losing everything (wealth, health, his children) Job knew that he still had the Lord with him, and that was enough. He also understood what he wanted was not important, but what he needed was key – and what he (and we) all need is God. Job realized having water was more important than shade, and God’s will being done is far more important than his own will being done. Jonah had it backwards and was discouraged, while Job had it right and was encouraged.
We worry because we understand our own strength is suspect; we may get through troubles under our own stamina and strength but we realize what could happen if it gives out. Remember that God is omnipotent, all powerful all the time. His power does not fade and He does not tire. Tap into God’s power by trusting Him, and don’t worry about what you don’t have or what you don’t want to lose. Focus on Jesus and you’ll have all that you need and that which you will never lose!
