Scripture: Philippians 4:6-7
Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus.
Thought for the Day: I think most of us have worked on making sure we do not sweat the small stuff. For most of us, it requires practice and intentionality. But how often is it not the small stuff, but the wrong stuff that we sweat. It might be something that irritates us to no end, but for the rest of the world, it really doesn’t even make the list of small stuff…yet we want the world to be irritated alongside us. It might be somebody else’s insignificant annoyance, but this person is brilliant in creating a bandwagon effect and suddenly you find yourself joining a large group of people who are ready to quit their day jobs and join the movement. It might be something that marketers or political folks have created as a smokescreen to have us missing the big stuff, and in their brilliant advertising, we are focused on the small stuff at the expense of the big stuff. In the end, it is all wrong stuff. Jesus saw people focused on the wrong stuff all the time, and throughout his ministry, so did the Apostle Paul. In fact, the sweating of the wrong stuff seemed to have both of them sweating a lot. There is no perfect answer to how one keeps from sweating the wrong stuff, but I often find myself asking the simple question, “How exactly will this help share or embody the Good News of God’s everlasting love?” If it is difficult to find an answer to that question without the use of mental gymnastics, then it is probably a part of the small stuff or even the wrong stuff.
Prayer: Keep me on point, O Lord. Keep me focused on what you need me to do. And though I might find myself passionate about something that in the moment appears of great importance, help me to always evaluate it against the life of your gift, Jesus Christ. Amen.
AND THANKS
TO EVERYONE
WHO HELPED
WITH WORKDAY
It was a great success!!!
