No longer just "making do"

"There isn't enough room in our minds for both worry and faith. You must decide which one will live there." (www.facebook.com/Missional-Women) There isn't much room in my mind for more of anything most days!  I find my mind filled to the brim and sometimes flowing over because of all the details, issues, and regular day-to-day stuff it has to filter through and figure out how to manage. To clutter my mind with worry is just not a good use of my "brain matter".  One thing I have come to count on is the position Christ is in as the one who rules over my life.  He has the vantage point I don't possess and at that point, he has full the full perspective on what his happening, is going to happen, and even what has happened.  That said, to worry is kind of a waste of my time - it is much more likely the results I desire are going to come in trusting!

From such a vantage, He is able to save those who approach God through Him for all time because He will forever live to be their advocate in the presence of God. (Hebrews 7:25 VOICE)

He lives forever as our advocate - seated at the right hand of God, ever making intercession for us.  That means he is talking to his father on our behalf.  This very fact alone should give us cause to trust!  As advocate, he is our "champion" - taking whatever we have need of before the one who supplies all our needs.  If we need clarity, he speaks with God on our behalf to unfold the plans he has for us little by little until we see clearly how he is moving and orchestrating our lives.  If we have need of finances to deal with an urgent need he is taking that need before the father and together they make a way for the need to be met.  As our advocate, he stands before God and all of the heavenly realm, encouraging us to stay the course. 

The good news is that our minds don't need to be cluttered with all manner of worry, anxiety, and pressures beyond our control.  This is liberating once we finally come to realize we have this advocate, sitting in the highest place of honor, speaking continuously on our behalf, but until we recognize the significance of his care over our lives, we will continue to ruminate on the stuff which does little more than mess with our minds.  Worry begins in our minds, but soon affects our heart (the seat of our emotions), and when the heart gets involved that is when the real messiness begins!  Adding to the worry is this emotional whirlwind - the mind not only becomes cluttered by whatever the issue is, but with the unrealistic reactions of our emotions!

When worry is allowed to clutter our minds, unrealistic reactions occur.  We respond to what we imagine, not always to what is real.  We "cook up" the "what if" scenarios and then run with those for a while.  All the while, Jesus is sitting there at God's right hand, speaking with him about our original need.  Don't forget - he knows the issue and is concerned about it - he just wants us to turn it over to him for him to direct how we should deal with it.  Us holding onto it, blowing it out of proportion by our worrying on it doesn't change how ready he is to help us deal with it.  It just delays our responsiveness!  

If we needed a specific tool to complete a task, how silly is it to use some other tool not designed for the task at hand to try to accomplish that task?  When you have a Phillip head screw, but grab a flat head screwdriver to attempt to remove it, does it work very well?  Not usually!  Why?  It is the wrong tool for the task at hand.  Many times, we go for what is easiest or the quickest solution we have at hand - but the results aren't always reliable or assured when the "tool" for the job is just one we will "make do with".  Jesus knows the right tool - and he even holds it out to us for us to grab hold of when we need it.  The issue comes in trusting - will we let go of what we are trying to use because it is "our tool" and take hold of the tool he holds out to us?  I know from my own experience - letting go of what I have in my hand is always harder than if I didn't pick something up in the first place!  

Jesus isn't opposed to us using the tools he places in our hands to help us sort out and deal with the issues we face. He just wants us to avoid the frustration and compounded worries of attempting to deal with what we don't know, or cannot yet see, with the "make do" tools we might muster up. Just sayin!