Peace for the New Year!

 Where has time gone?

That is a common question around this time of the year. The last day of 2024...it just seems unreal, doesn't it? The answer? I have no idea...all I know is that it went way too fast, and at the same time, not fast enough. Marked by loss, anguish, anxiety, fear, I struggle to find moments of beauty. I know they were there, but they are blurred by the dense fog of hot tears. Today, however, I want to take a moment to turn my eyes to the One Who Makes ALL things new...and allow Him to clear my vision and light up the lamp unto my feet so I can see the path that leads me to where I can see the blessings.

Holy Spirit, Divine Gardener of our souls, on this cloudy morning, this last morning of 2024, I pray that You will guide me and inspire me to focus not on the weeds, but on the harvest of gratitude that you have grown all around my fields. Despite of all my efforts to mess things up, You are always creating a way and a purpose. One example of that this year was seeing Grant graduate from College. You took care of him all through his 4 years at Geneva and continue to do so today and for the rest of his life even though I am the most unfit of Mothers. You also took care of Dylan in his injury and have made something great come out of it: a passion, and for that my heart fills with joy. You took care of me in my despair when facing scary health results and surrounded me with the prayers of those angels you've placed on my path. You have walked with Dan every day as he strives to perform in righteousness everywhere he goes. You continue to take care of our extended families near and far. You have planted the seeds of fellowship in our beloved church and have cover us with Your presence and with the warmth of your embrace as we traverse through valleys of shadows and death. You have brought light in our darkness and a shelter in our wandering. You have shown us that You are, indeed, our refuge and strength just as You promised You'd be. Though the tears still flow, I trust You will one day, in Your time and place, wipe them all away.

Looking back at this year, I can say that I recognize how You are the One who can turn graves into gardens. You are the Only One who can make a mess seem beautiful...You are the One who can bring order out of chaos. And for that I thank You. I was reminded this Christmas season that it is not about me or my circumstances...it's not even about family and loved ones...it is all about You. You are the source of our gratitude. Your plan to take on flesh so You could be the Perfect and Only acceptable sacrifice to atone us, and Your decision to dwell in our hearts until You come back again or call us home IS what we celebrate. And for opening my eyes to that truth this year, I am most grateful.

Today, as we close the season and the year a word keeps resonating in my heart, mind and soul...the word is Peace. I know that over the years I have written quite a bit about the concept of peace. Now, I want to re-take it and re-claim it not as a concept in the abstract, but as a tangible reality that is possible to experience regardless of what is going on around us, because Peace is a Person. Peace is Jesus. True Peace is found in the Presence of Christ in us in the Person of the Holy Spirit, the most precious gift we could receive on this earth. So, as I enter 2025 with anxious thoughts and trepidation, I lift up a prayer that the Holy Spirit will manifest Himself in our lives in magnificent ways so we know...really, truly know He is here, so His presence can fill us with the promised peace that should run like a river in our souls.

Have a blessed 2025. May we walk each day knowing He holds us with His loving hand so we can journey in peace. In the Precious Name of Jesus. Amen!

Chapter 7 of the Book Winning the War on Worry by Louie Giglio

 Do you remember who was the first person who ever taught you about "thank you" being one of the magic words?

I really do not remember. The concept of saying "thank you" has been so ingrained in me since my first consciousness that I could not pin-point who was the first person who ever instilled that rule in my heart. And yes, we also think "thank you" is one of the "magic words" in the cultures of the people who speak Spanish. We have adults telling us in very stern voices and with raised eyebrows, something like: "¿Cómo se dice?" or "what do you say?" every time we are supposed to say thank you. So early on, we learn.

The question is: WHY??? Why do societies place such an importance on making sure children grow up knowing how and when to say this expression of gratitude? Why is it so crucial that we learn it? 

Did you know that expressing thanks is not as universal as we think? In some cultures, it might even be considered rude and/or a sign of vanity to say something like "thank you." That blows my MIND!

More interestingly, did you know it is within the Judeo-Christian world where the concept of gratitude is most deeply rooted and practiced? 

Look at these trivia bits: in China, they don't really say thank you because they think the favor will come back around in the future. In other Asian countries, they view saying "thank you" as distancing, insincere, rude or even too sarcastic to be appreciated. Some indigenous languages don't even have a word for "thank you." In Hebrew, however, expressing gratitude is key...especially when praying. Check this out. As I was reading about these things, I found out that the very word for a Jewish person (Yehudi in Hebrew) has the same root as giving thanks – which is hoda’a in Hebrew. So, instead of calling the Jewish people – People of the Book, linguistically it would make more sense to call them “the Grateful People”! It is no wonder then, that regions of the world where the principles of Judeo-Christianity have had a great impact, would place such emphasis on being grateful. 

Pastor Giglio in chapter 7 of his book Winning the War on Worry brings up a ton of important ideas to ponder. One of them is the role of a grateful heart when waging the war against worrying. He brings the point home by citing Philippians 4: 6-7,

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"

Did you notice the little phrase "with thanksgiving"? Pastor Giglio wants us to really pay attention to that little combination of words tucked in the middle of this powerful piece of Scripture. He wants us to realize that a grateful heart is instrumental on this battle against worry, which in essence is the battle for our minds. When worry attacks, we literally lose our minds. We lose control over our minds and we spiral down into a pit of negativity and despair that is very difficult to climb out of on our own. The best course of action is to not allow ourselves to descend down those depths of darkness. Sometimes, however, the weight of our circumstances is so heavy that we slip and fall. It is then that we must recover our minds and remember God's Word that encourages us to pray and to be thankful..."in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5: 18). Notice the call is to be thankful in... it doesn't say for all circumstances. So in our darkest hour we recall the Goodness of God and His enduring love, and all His attributes and all He is and all He has done for us and how He has rescued us before so He will rescue us again, and we thank Him in advance for all of that and we dwell in Him, seeking His Light and trusting He is holding us as we continue to thank Him in our hour of worry.

See, the devil knows gratitude pulls us out of the pit...that's why he doesn't want us to remember to be grateful in every circumstance. He feeds his lies to us telling us "really? You are thankful for this??? What kind of a cruel god gives you garbage and then asks you to be grateful for it? But it is "in" it...not "for" it so don't listen to the enemy, listen to the truth, and the truth is that "gratefulness is a torpedo that sinks worry," like Pastor Giglio says. "Gratitude opens the doorway for praise, and praise dispels fear. Worry and worship cannot be in our mouths at the same time. One always displaces the other." (96)

So, I encourage us to try this together. Next time we are either descending or already down there, in the darkest corner of the pit of worry, let's start thanking God. Let's start recalling our blessings, naming them one by one...maybe we should have a list of blessings written down so we can read them out loud at this moment...and let's see what happens. What do we have to lose? Nothing. We have nothing to lose and a whole lot to win. Although we do have one thing to lose: worry. For, as we praise and thank God for our blessings, worry will begin to lose its power in us and the peace that transcends all understanding will begin to flow like a river.

Even though I can't remember who was the first person to teach me about saying "thank you," I'm so glad I grew up in a culture where they teach kids to be grateful. It is a most crucial weapon to win this war, indeed!

Let's wrap it up with the prayer at the end of chapter 7:

Father, I just want to say thank You. thank You for saving me. Thank You for seeing me when I was far off. Thank You for the power of Your cross to overcome every bit of darkness and despair. thank You for being able when I am not, for being awake and alert and mindful of me. You are infinite and intimate, and I bow in adoration of You. Amen!

Chapter 6 of the Book Winning the War on Worry

 I. LOVE. HOME. RENOVATION. SHOWS!!! Some may say I'm addicted to them.

I just can't get enough of those shows. I love them so much that we had to get rid of our HGTV subscription because nobody could remove me from my favorite chair in front of the TV...so, I'm happy to say that it has been a couple of years since I have watched any. I went cold turkey and I haven't been back. I finally realized I had wasted enough time watching (also, Dan cut me off since he realized where the "leak" in our finances was...)

Anyway, I still dream about home renovations and redecoration, and relocation, etc. I just get so excited with the prospect of seeing something completely gutted and then put back together in new and fascinating ways. I picture it in my mind and it looks beautiful...then, when I see it completed it usually is way better than anything I imagined. One of the things I love the most is the opportunity to fix problems that could have been hidden behind the walls and we didn't know anything about. We remodeled our bathrooms a few years ago and since then our drains have been working so much better! In our old house we remodeled the kitchen and the bathroom and the back patio. I hated to leave since we finally had gotten everything to work like clockworks! The patio remodel was total insanity. They found boulders buried underneath! Literally, the contractors had to rent a crane to pull them out! It was so weird. I wish I could find the pictures. I can't wait until we remodel our kitchen in our current house since everything is falling apart in there. But I digress...

The reason I started thinking about this was because Pastor Giglio in chapter 6 of his book, Winning the War on Worry, talks about "putting a dagger in the heart of worry" by using the metaphor of undergoing a "home renovation." Actually, he is not talking about just like a kitchen, bathroom or patio remodel. Nope. What he is encouraging us to do is to totally demolishing the house! (75) That is serious stuff. Can you imagine? How long have you lived in your current home? I haven't lived here very long, but I think of Dan's homestead...it has been in his family for over 100 years. He doesn't really know any other home, "home." I cannot imagine his family ever considering the passing thought of demolishing that old house...unfathomable. Yet, that is precisely what we must do if we want to stab worry in the heart and finally defeat it. We have to completely tear down the house we have built for it to dwell for as long as we have been worried.

It is discouraging to think that we built that house of worry. But the encouraging thing is that since we built it...we can demolish it. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, by the strength of Jesus and the Word of God, we can tear it down. Like Pastor Giglio says, "the wrecking ball that turns this house of lies into a pile of rubble is the power of the Name of Jesus." (76) The same way the spiritual warfare is not of this world and we have to battle it with weapons that are not of this world, we demolish the house of worry using the tools and strategies provided to us by the Spirit. And the first one is: a new way of thinking.

Pastor Giglio says that in order to drive the dagger through the heart of worry we must think about different things than the things that are causing us to worry. He uses Philippians 4:8 as the basis for this strategy:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—

think about such things.

I LOVE this verse. I always have been drawn to it as a way to help me achieve the renewal of the mind that we are commanded to do in Romans 12: 2. But I can say I have never put it in the context of a total house renovation manual to get rid of worry. But it is so clear now that he points it out. Worry is all about a state of mind. The way to eradicate it is precisely by achieving the renewing of the mind...but how do we GET to that renewal? Well, by doing what Philippians 4: 8 says: "think about such things!" What things? whatever is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy. 

What an "AHA!" moment. 

It's all about being aware. Pastor Giglio says, whenever the thoughts of worry begin to creep up into our minds and hearts, the first thing we need to ask ourselves is: "where did that thought come from?" He suggests we ask the question out loud again and again. The answer will come to us and it will be that the thought came either from God or from somewhere else. And the way to confirm if it was from God is by going back to Philippians 4:8. We ask ourselves, is it true? Is it noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and/or praiseworthy? If the answer is no...then...the thought came from somewhere else and we must combat it, take it captive, by thinking about such things in the list.

One of the practical exercises we see in this chapter is to take one of the words Paul encourages us to think about and write out a list of thoughts that relate to that word. I suggest we take a word a day, and create a list for each of the words...so...when we are attacked by worry, we can go to our lists and think about the things we wrote down. 

I know, it all sounds way too easy. And it is NOT. But the most important thing we need to remember is that it is not by our power that we will accomplish any of these things. It is by the power of Jesus living in us. "Through Christ we are resurrected, a new creation, no longer under the power of this world and its ways. We are free and perfectly loved, and as such, we can take back our minds, eliminating worry and accepting the easy and light yoke of our Good and Gracious Savior!" (83)

So let's gather our tool box. Let's gut the house of worry. Better yet, let's tear it down. Let's fix the hidden problems, replace the plumbing, open the drains, find the leaks, pull out the buried boulders and rebuild. By the Power of Jesus, we can do this! Be with us, Lord. Be Our Cornerstone! In Your Hands we place our efforts. Amen!

 

Chapter 5 of the Book Winning the War on Worry by Louie Giglio

 "Do you believe God loves you?"

Pastor Louie Giglio asks this questions on page 68 in chapter 5 of his book on Winning the War on Worry. This chapter talks about how the power of God's perfect love for us is the key to winning this war. The problem is...do we believe God loves us?

Is there a person in your life you truly love? Not just because of what they do for you...not just when they behave well or perform to your satisfaction...a person you truly love despite all of that. The closest to this kind of love I have experienced is the love I feel for my sons. They can't do much for me. They don't always behave well. The rarely ever perform to my satisfaction (shhhhhh...don't tell them I said this. I'd deny, deny, deny!!). But it's true. They are great kids, but they are not perfect and they do disappoint me TONS...but I'd die for them. The depth of my love for them goes deeper than I ever knew it was possible. But I still want to punch them on the face often. Pastor Giglio tells us to ponder our very imperfect love that we feel for our beloved and realize that it is nothing compared to the love God has for us.

The only reason we know how to love in our imperfect ways is because He first loved us (John 4: 19). He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us. What kind of a love is that? It is incomprehensibly perfect love. It goes beyond everything we can imagine. And that kind of love is the one He has for us. Therefore, we have nothing to worry about! If we who are weak and imperfect are able to keep our children safe for the most part...how much safer is God able to keep us? Like Pastor Giglio said on page 66: "If God already gave you His best, He has no reason to withhold the rest." If God has already given me Jesus and the Holy Spirit, why should I worry that He might not take care of me? It's absurd, when you look at it this way, isn't it?

The depth of God's love moved Him to send Himself in the person of Jesus to be our Savior and in the person of the Holy Spirit to live inside of us until He calls us home. Why should I be afraid? If He has already done all these, why would He deny us to help us overcome fear and worry? Yes, we still live in a broken world and the enemy is still prowling like a hungry lion seeking to devour us. Therefore, we must still stay on guard, but we are covered by the most perfect love that ever existed, so, regardless of the reality of the struggles we face, we have already won! So why worry?! And the greatest news is: nothing can ever separate us from His love! (Romans 8: 31-39)

No matter what we do or don't do, He "absolutely and unequivocally" loves us no matter what! And if we believe this truth in our hearts and minds, we have the greatest and only weapon we will ever need to put a dagger through the heart of worry. (68)

So, let's make sure we meditate on this essential truth: God does love us with an everlasting love. Once we get that tattooed into our brains, the enemy would have no power over us.

May we respond with humility and awe to the great power of God's love. He has done what we could never do, so we worship Him. He is the Only One worthy of all our worship and praise and affection. Reveal Your perfect love to us as we move away from worry and break our chains of fear, Lord. In the Precious Name of Jesus, the One Who Breaks every chain, even mine! Amen!

Chapter 4 of the Book Winning the War on Worry by Louie Giglio

 I love disaster movies. I just enjoy watching them because they usually contain great examples of human ingenuity and resourcefulness. God's marvelous design comes in full display when we are pressed from every side as our brain goes on full alert mode and fires up options to consider when in mortal danger...well...some people's brain, at least. My brain goes straight to panic. So I'm afraid if you are stuck with me in a dangerous situation, you're going to have to be the one with the impressive display of brain power, because me...I'm going to be hysterically and blindly screaming my lungs out, paralyzed in fear, curled into a ball. 

Anyway, that's another reason I like watching disaster movies, because I'm hoping to learn something useful. Like, for example, I love to watch and re-watch the movie San Andreas, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Yes, I also enjoy watching that movie because of The Rock, I know, you got me. BUT, my favorite part is when the earth starts shaking again, and The Rock moves all the people to lean against the side wall of the stadium. Once the earthquake stops, everyone is safe even though there was much collapsing of structures, then the one person asks him, how did he know what to do. The Rock's character, who is an emergency helicopter pilot replied something like, "you find something sturdy to lean against and brace yourself." 

Well, chapter 4 of the book Winning the War on Worry by Pastor Louie Giglio talks about how it is key to invite God into our worry. To illustrate this, Pastor Giglio quotes Philippians 4:6, Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. This is a command, but beyond that, it is a guide to handling worry. I know, hearing the first part is like, "sure...do not be anxious...do not worry...yeah...that'll happen." But if we keep reading, it tells us what to do instead or when we feel the sting of fear and worry on the back of our spine: PRAY! And what is prayer? It is our invitation to God to be a part of our lives, good and bad and ugly. 

The best part is the result of this invitation: PEACE! 

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 7

What a blessing! Countering worry with prayer results in a peace so amazing that it is incomprehensible. And this peace is promised if we abide/dwell in Our Great God. If we disconnect from our distractions and remain close to the vine that is Jesus, turning our attention to Him in prayer, worry turns into peace like water turned into wine by the sole presence of Our Lord in the room. 

A practical and effective way that Pastor Giglio offers in his book to staying connected to Jesus especially in our times of worry and fear, is a simple breathing exercise. He tells us to exhale/breathe out a lie caused by worry, whatever it is, and inhale/breathe in an affirmation or a promise of God. For example, he says, we can exhale, "I am alone." And then, we can inhale, "God is with me always." We can customize this to fit our situation and try it whenever the cold shivers of fear start creeping up and down our soul. It is a good way to refocus our attention on the One Who Calms the Storm as supposed to keeping it on the waves and the winds. It is a way to remember that God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble (Psalm 46: 1). It is how we find our "sturdy" place when the earth begins to move.

As I walk through valleys filled with the darkness of worry and fear, I will try to remember the triangle of life, Our Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the sturdiest place ever available for us to lean against in our times of earthquakes and storms. 

Thank you, Lord for reminding us that You are bigger than anything that afflicts us in this world. You have overcome, and so shall we by Your grace, presence and strength. In The Precious Name of Jesus, we pray. Amen!

Chapter 3 of the Book Winning the War on Worry

 I cannot believe that it has been almost 3 months since the last time I posted anything. It has been an eventful summer, both good and not-so-good. I've enjoyed many blessings but I have also been immersed in deep worry. And today, as I was, once again, falling into the trap that fear sets in front of me every time, I remembered...All things are possible with God! (Matthew 19: 26) ... even winning the war on worry.

So let me pick up where I left off: the beginning of chapter 3.

Author and Pastor, Louie Giglio reminds us in this chapter how control and fear are at the root of worry. I think, the fear of losing control is significant here as well. If you think about it, we just like life to go the way we plan it. And when it doesn't, or when it seems like it won't...we begin to worry because we fear the unknown. Unknown means out of our control...therefore, we worry.

I am not a big planner. I know it is hard to believe, but I do not spend countless hours scheduling the minutia or even the big things of life. I'm too lazy for that. I do plan, don't get me wrong, but I have seen what real, hard-core planners are like...and I am NOT one of them. Dylan is. He is obsessed with detailed planning. For example, when we go on vacation, he plans every single outfit he will wear every single day. One time I had to yell at him for using all my gallon-size Ziplock bags to organize his daily get ups. I was sooooo mad when I went to look for ONE and there were NONE left in a box I had recently purchased. Me on the other hand, I throw in my suitcase a bunch of pieces that I know go together and hope when I'm there, I can concoct a few basic outfits that look presentable and comfortable (while making sure there is a washing/dryer combo at the place where we're staying at, 'cause I tend to under pack).

Anyway...Dylan gets terribly upset when plans change. Back to traveling, he makes me repeat over and over and over again what we have planned to do at the place we're visiting, until he memorizes it. I even have to tell him when we have planned, nothing...so he can mark it as "free time" in his mental calendar. The year we took him to Guatemala, we were not in control of the itinerary so a couple of months in advance I had to start the conversations with him about the need for him to grasp the concept of "going with the flow." I thought it was super ironic that I was the one promoting the idea of "going with the flow" when I am notoriously the least "flowy" person anyone around me has ever met (I am just filled with contradictions).

At any rate, Pastor Giglio says that we are called to be good stewards, which in turn means, we are supposed to plan. Good stewardship/planning, however, does not need to include a microscopic analysis of every "what if" scenario that could possibly happen in the future. We consider some of them, perhaps the most obvious, and we let the rest go to God's hands, where ultimately every plan must reside. He mentions how getting stuck on the "what ifs" will actually paralyze us with fear because we realize how ill-equipped we are to deal with all of them...therefore, we get "stuck on a stream of worry." (35)

Giglio says:

It's not wrong to admit that the occasional "what if" can be helpful...every so often when you're building a plan, you need to look ahead. But you can't live there. You can't fixate so much on the ideas of tomorrow that you cease living in the realities of today. Not only is detrimental to your spiritual health, but psychology and sociology have proven that it's actually a large waste of time and effort...because most of the "what ifs" that we project and dwell on don't ever happen." (35) Later he continues, "planning well and steering clear from worry means that we embrace the mentality of I'll cross that bridge when I get to it." (37) He adds, "planning focuses on the present and on what is in your hands, while occasionally looking ahead to factor in what is to come. Worry fixates on the future, while occasionally circling back to work on what is currently in front of you." (34)

And that's why worry gets me, not because I am a frantic planner who needs to schedule even her visits to the "el baño," but because the toxicity of worry gets to me due to the fact that I keep looking at the future, crossing bridges ahead of time, fixating on the fact that I won't be able to handle the eventualities and the realized "what ifs" because I'm not strong enough (or even because I haven't planned accordingly). I believe the lie that says we are alone in the storm...so when it hits...I KNOW I'm going to perish for sure because I know I am not strong enough.

The truth is, we ARE NOT ALONE. 

We do not have to face the storm all on our own.

We don't have to rely only on our puny strength.

God, the Lord Almighty is with us always. (Isaiah 41: 10) and so is Jesus (Matthew 28: 20). Not only He controls the storm (Mark 4: 39) but He speaks to us out of it (Job 38: 1)...and even though with man things are not all possible, NOTHING is impossible with God, (Matthew 19: 26). And He also doesn't give us more than we can handle. Pastor Giglio points out beautifully how this is present in the parable of the talents, when in Matthew 25: 15 Jesus says, "to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability." How did I miss that last part? I can't believe I never truly saw that last phrase, "to each according to his own ability." I just love the Word of God and how it becomes new every day.

He also sends His angels to guard us (Psalm 91: 11-12)...and I don't just mean the celestial beings...I mean, God puts people in our lives to do His work in us as well. He sends His every-day-angels to minister to us and to walk with us and to lift us up...

Pastor Giglio's closing words in this chapter are most powerful:

"God puts things into your hands according to your ability and His power to work in and through you. If He's entrusted it to you, you can carry it. If He's calling you to it, He will be faithful and help you through it." (38) Even if we mess up and believe we are failing...He who began a good work in us will see it to completion. (Philippians 1: 6)

God is Good and Merciful...so I know that whether we want to plan every detail to make sure we have fashionable outfits for every occasion, or just want to make every day an adventure, He's got us covered and His patience is limitless. All we have to do is remember to place all our plans, tight or loose, at the feet of the Cross and trust He takes care of us.

PRAYER:

Father, I bring to You the things I am concerned about. Help me make wise choices to bring about the best outcomes in every situation. Give me the grace to place what I cannot control into Your hands with confidence and peace. In the Precious Name of Jesus! Amen!

Continuing the Reflections on the Book Winning the War on Worry by Louie Giglio

 What's at the heart of worry?

I never considered this question. I never really "worried" about what's behind "worry." I just do it. I worry. However, reading through this little book by Louie Giglio, Winning the War on Worry I got to page 20 and there was a statement that made me hit the brakes: "at the heart of worry is our need to be in control."

Pastor Giglio takes the readers back to Adam and Eve and how that one decision to disobey God was all about control. They believed the lie of the enemy that told them, "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3: 5).  The key phrase in this lie is:  "you will be like God..." That was it. Eve and then Adam wanted to be like God. The funny thing is, they already were!

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1: 27

We already are made in the image of God. That's what Adam and Eve forgot. They allowed the lies of the enemy to enter their minds, clouding the truth. So they gave up paradise for the twisted promise of knowledge. This reminds me of when Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of lentil stew. I mean, what is it about food that makes us forget and causes us to fall in the traps of manipulators? Whether delicious cake or a magnificent fountain of chocolate fondue or fruit or lentil stew, food is one of those double-edged swords that nourishes us on one side and on the other entices us to err.  It is no wonder food is used as a control item. Oftentimes, people who worry because they feel like their lives are out of control use food as a tool to control what little they can. They would either eat in excess or not eat at all as a way to say to others and to themselves, even if subconsciously, "I can control this." So...could Pastor Giglio be onto something here?

In my own experience, if I'm honest, I will probably get to the same conclusion: at the heart of worry is my need to be in control. I don't think I do it consciously...but it is there. One of my greatest worries in life is the fear that I will get sick and die too young and leave my family on their own. Therefore, every time I am facing medical testing and health issues, my worry level goes on red alert. Why do I worry? Because illness usually means I am not in control and my life is not going to unfold the way I had planned it. Health issues usually have a habit of altering everything. So the plans and goals we had so carefully designed go out the door very quickly. And I. DO. NOT. LIKE. THAT!

I tend to believe that my life goes better when it flows according to my plans. I even tell my kids more often I'd like to admit: "If you'd just do what I say, your lives would be SO much better!!!"

I know...I do say that quite often.

The thing is, that's a lie! What they have to do is what God says in His Word! So de enemy makes me doubt that God's promises are not really true or at least not for me AND that life could be perfect if I get to direct my path and the paths of my loved ones. But like Pastor Giglio reminds us, God's promises and His love are 100% true! He became flesh to die for us so we would not face eternal separation from God but eternal life with Him! What more proof we need of His love and care? And as for the "life would be perfect if it all went according to MY design," well...look how it turned out for Adam and Eve...we are still reaping the consequences of them deciding they wanted absolute control. I don't really have to go that far to realize I am doomed when I try to take full control of my destiny...just ask those around me. They'll be able to tell you what happens when hurricane Gisela passes by...

So what to do? Relent. Let Go. Submit. Surrender.

"Jesus' resurrection puts the brakes on our need for control because we can fully trust that the One who overcame death, hell, and the grave loves us and gives His victorious life to us through Jesus Christ. He promises to care for us. Guide us. Protect us." (page 24) And all His promises are true!

We can trust Him because,

...he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53: 5

What a marvelous truth, spoken to us 700 years before the birth of Christ! And it came to pass and we are living proof of it.

"Jesus can carry what is worrying you because He has already carried what was meant to kill you. He has already carried your sorrows and buried them in His grave." (page 24)

And for that we praise You, worship You and thank You, Lord. We have no words to express our gratitude for what You have done and for Who You are and for the gift of Christ in Me. To You all the Glory, My Lord and My God...My King of Glory! Amen!