me, my future, and God

Over the past week, I've been enthralled with Matthew 6:30-34 in the Message Bible.

"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you
to relax, to not be so preoccupied with gettingso you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."

My parents got me a Nook for my birthday (what a huge blessing that has been while on bedrest!) and my Message Bible has stayed on these verses every time I open it on my Nook. Different words and phrases keep sticking out to me, all having to do with how much God truly cares about me.

Today the phrase "God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the times comes." 

I'll always remember a message I heard Dennis Burke preach on Psalm 91. I walked away realizing there are a few different types of deliverance: 

1. God takes us completely up and over adversity where we don't experience it and sometimes don't even realize what we've missed. 

2. God delivers us miraculously out of the middle of adversity. 

3. God walks us through adversity. 

The last one makes me think of a phrase the Lord gave me a while ago: the miracle of perseverance. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we don't have to be afraid because God is with us (Psalm 23). The miracle is in us persevering and recognizing that God is by our side and taking care of every concern and worry.

Adversity in any form stinks, but we don't need to worry. God will help us deal with whatever we face when we face it. Don't create your own adversity by worrying about something that doesn't yet exist. Let God take care of you right now and prepare you--without you even knowing it--for your future. He'll take care of both you and your future if you just let Him.