I feel as though I bring a lot of Breaking News to you, my readers! But it’s true…there will be no bills to pay in Heaven. Let me back up a little so you can see how I came to this amazing conclusion.
The other night, while Mark and I were sitting around the fire pit, relaxing and enjoying some end of the summer down-time, I got thinking of my sister, Naomi. I think of her often, as you can imagine. I wonder what she’s experiencing at that moment, what is she seeing, what is she thinking, etc. On this particular evening, I told Mark “You know, Naomi never has to worry about paying another bill! She doesn’t even have to worry about what’s in her bank account. She will never have to worry about where her income will come from.” The more I thought about this, the more I got a little annoyed with her! 🙂 And then…you guessed it! The Holy Spirit didn’t just tap me on the shoulder! He picked up a good piece of firewood and hit me over the head. (Not really, but just humor me, okay?) And then I heard that still, small voice tell me “You don’t have to worry about those things, either!” Wait! What?! Did I just hear Him correctly? I couldn’t have! Maybe He had forgotten that Mark has been out of work for 17 months! Maybe He forgot that I’m no longer working! Maybe He forgot that our income has taken a drastic hit.
But as I sat at the fire pit, I was reminded of several verses that command me to not worry. Thinking that God must certainly understand my situation and there just must be some verses that justify my angst, I started looking up verses. I was thinking that clearly some of these translations must have left out a verse that would help me out. So I checked different translations to see what they said about worry. I was actually looking for a verse that would say something like “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Unless your husband has lost his job and you also are no longer employed, then by all means worry! Oh, and definitely worry if your bank account is lower than it used to be. And don’t forget to worry if you don’t know where or when your next job will come.” (Matt. 6:25-24…and a little more added!) But you know what? For the life of me, I couldn’t find those verses anywhere in any of the translations I researched.
You know what’s sobering and a wee bit convicting? The very beginning of those verses…the part that says “Do not worry…”?This isn’t a suggestion. It’s a command. And by me not obeying, I’m being rebellious! And what’s even more scary is that there is a verse in I Samuel 15:23 that states that rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft! Yikes! That makes you sit up and take notice.
Over and over again, I am reminded of how faithful our God has been to Mark and I. He DOES supply all of our needs. He knows exactly what we need and He’s never too busy to hear the prayers of a sniffling, weak daughter who, once again has taken her eyes off of Whom she belongs to and starts to focus on the woes and troubles of this world. He is so faithful when I continue to be so unfaithful.
So, with all that being said, I’ve forgiven my sister for being so carefree and worry-free in her present state and I’ve stopped being jealous of her and I’ve decided to obey the One who knows me and my situation better than anyone else. So, for tonight, I will not worry. And then tomorrow morning, I will ask the Holy Spirit to help me not to worry. And probably Wednesday, I’ll ask for the same thing!
Oh, and I really am sorry that I won’t need my checkbook in heaven! I just ordered the cutest checks with squirrels on them!!
tapmyshoulder 