1 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:03,640 Speaker 1: Life Audio. 2 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 2: Welcome to the Crossbalk devotional. We're glad to have you listening. 3 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 2: Today's topic is about giving your worries to the God 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 2: who gives so much more. We'll return with the devotional 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:37,160 Speaker 2: after a brief message from one of our sponsors. Give 6 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 2: your worries to the God who gives so much more 7 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 2: written and read by Kirie Eiberger. Now to him who's 8 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 2: able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, 9 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 2: according to His power that is at work within us 10 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 2: Ephesians III, Verse twenty. I was once quite the worrier. 11 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 2: I'm not sure exactly what the trigger was, but it 12 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 2: likely began through my youth as life started to get 13 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 2: more real, as they slowly lost the innocent beliefs that 14 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 2: everyone is nice, parents always stay married, only old people die, 15 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 2: and you don't get in trouble unless you're actually guilty, 16 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 2: and one life disappointment at a time. I observed mean 17 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 2: kids making fun, moms and dads splitting up, classmates, getting 18 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:32,479 Speaker 2: in fatal car crashes, and people getting punished for things 19 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 2: they didn't do. Hurt happened. Heartbreaks began to haunt me 20 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 2: until without notice, I began living in such a way 21 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:45,800 Speaker 2: to protect myself from any pain. Worry was brewing, and 22 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 2: I hardly noticed, and sadly, as the years escalated through 23 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 2: my teens and early adulthood, so did my life experience escalate, 24 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 2: and so did my reality that there was more wrong 25 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 2: in the world than my younger years could to them, 26 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 2: And so did the worry. Have you seen worry develop 27 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 2: in your life? Have you ever considered yourself a worrier? 28 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 2: Or maybe your worry is masked as a tendency to 29 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 2: control too much sometimes, or maybe it looks like becoming 30 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 2: consumed with the decision an upcoming situation or event, or 31 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 2: just the unknowns of the future. Or maybe you've been 32 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 2: an avoid of something or someone an overthinker, over analyzer, 33 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 2: or just wondered what if? Too many times all of this, 34 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 2: believe it or not, has worried wrapped all around it. 35 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 2: The truth is we all worry, even the strongest Christians. 36 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 2: But what's also true, no one wants to worry. The 37 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:48,959 Speaker 2: effects of it are awful and are the exact opposite 38 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,959 Speaker 2: of what we long foremost in life, like peace, joy? 39 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 2: And did I say peace? So how do we stop 40 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 2: worrying and find the peace of God we want to 41 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 2: hold on to and not let it go. How do 42 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 2: we release the unease we feeled our circumstances, the unsettled 43 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 2: sense of the undone to dos, the uncertainty of every 44 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 2: decision concerning our families, finances, jobs, and all the unknowns 45 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 2: of our futures. How do we release the worry that 46 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 2: keeps returning? Regardless of my growing faith, I still struggle 47 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 2: with worry and with the ebbs and flows of life. 48 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 2: This is likely you too, so to stand strong against 49 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 2: the lying enemy of fear, which is no doubt, at 50 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 2: the root of every worry. I've learned the necessity of 51 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 2: arming ourselves with the sword of the spirit, the word 52 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 2: of God. And I've learned the value of pouring over 53 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 2: and over God's truths. The longest time, one of my 54 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 2: favorite verses has been Ephesians three twenty. I've always cherished 55 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 2: the truth that God is able to do measurably more 56 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 2: than all we ask for imagine. I'm sure we all do. 57 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 2: It's gloriously wonderful. And yes, God can do more than 58 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 2: all we ask or imagine, and yes we do want 59 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 2: Him to do just that on our behalf. However, how 60 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 2: do we know he wants to. Maybe we can get 61 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 2: on board with trusting that he can. But how do 62 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 2: we know that he will? What if he doesn't want 63 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 2: to do something greater than I can imagine? In my case? 64 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,839 Speaker 2: Have you ever wondered that like I have? Well, I 65 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 2: have made a beautiful observation that opened my eyes bright 66 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:35,359 Speaker 2: to the truth of this contemplation. I found it in 67 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 2: the preceding verses of Ephesians three verses seventeen thirty nineteen, 68 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 2: which say, and I pray that you, being rooted and 69 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 2: established in love, they have power together all the Lord's 70 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:52,599 Speaker 2: Holy people to grasp how wide and long, and high 71 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 2: and deep is the love of Christ and to know 72 00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:00,479 Speaker 2: this love that surpasses knowledge. But I was reading in 73 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 2: these verses was how much God loves us. And then 74 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 2: I dove directly into the truth of how much He's 75 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 2: capable of, And these familiar verses swallowed me in the 76 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 2: most comforting way. God wants to and God can. God 77 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 2: wants to give us so much because of his boundless 78 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 2: love for us. And God can because of his infinite 79 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 2: power in and around us. And once we understand this 80 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 2: in terms of our worry, it should change everything intersecting 81 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:37,719 Speaker 2: faith in life. What we need to do is trust 82 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:41,839 Speaker 2: and believe that God loves us and that God is able, 83 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 2: because it's true, and we need to trust that with 84 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 2: our whole hearts. Just imagine for a minute if you 85 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 2: believed with all that you are, that God loves you, 86 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 2: and that God, not you, in his sovereign power, is 87 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,240 Speaker 2: able to do so much more than all you could 88 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 2: ask or imagine if you truly believed this, what in 89 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,159 Speaker 2: the world would you have to worry about? If you 90 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 2: truly trusted this, what would you let go of the fears, 91 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 2: the anxiety, the control, the stress. Imagine the peace, and 92 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 2: what would you do? Where might you feel free to go? 93 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:27,160 Speaker 2: Imagine the joy? Imagine a life with less worry. Imagine 94 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 2: a life where you believed and rested deeply in the 95 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 2: truth that you are a child of a good, good 96 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 2: God who will always adore you, help you, care for you, 97 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:42,280 Speaker 2: and forever bless you. This is who God is, and 98 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:45,599 Speaker 2: that is what God does, so you can give all 99 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 2: your worries to him, our good God, who will give 100 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:54,720 Speaker 2: you so much more than you can possibly imagine. If 101 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 2: you liked what you heard today, I think you will 102 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 2: love my latest book. When over worry, conquer what shakes you, 103 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 2: and soar with the one who overcomes. You can find 104 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 2: it on Amazon or your favorite online retail site. I 105 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 2: hope it blesses you. 106 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:16,800 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to today's devotional. If you liked what 107 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: you heard today, we want to make sure you know 108 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: about our sister podcast, Your Daily Prayer. When you follow 109 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,280 Speaker 1: your Daily Prayer in your favorite podcast app, you'll get 110 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 1: a brand new prayer and devotional each day, so your 111 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: days begin in conversation with God. If you're looking to 112 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: grow in prayer or start your day with your heart 113 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: focused on the right things, search for your Daily Prayer 114 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:43,239 Speaker 1: in your favorite podcast app and be sure to follow 115 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: the show so you get a new prayer delivered straight 116 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: to you each morning.