You Don't Get to Worry Just Because You're Serving God

I'm excited to keep going in this series, because today I want to talk to you about something that hides in plain sight — worry that gets excused because it's attached to serving God.

Attack your fear — don't just accept it

When you realize you're afraid of something, don't run from it. Look it in the eye and say, "I'm not putting up with you in my life. I refuse."

I'm not particularly afraid of heights, but I remember standing on a glass walkway high above a ship deck, feeling that instinct to step back rise up in me. I stood there and stared it down instead. That's what you do with fear — you attack it, you don't accept it as just part of who you are.

Feelings are not you. You are a spirit being with emotions, not an emotional being. When worry rises up, grab hold of it and say, "I refuse to worry" — even if you can still feel it trying to pull at you.

Martha wasn't wrong to serve. She was wrong to let it worry her.

Jesus showed up at Martha's house, likely unannounced, with His disciples in tow. Martha welcomed Him in and got busy taking care of everyone, while her sister Mary sat at His feet, listening to Him teach.

“But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.’”

Luke 10:40 (NKJV)

Think about what Martha was actually doing — she was literally serving Jesus. Pouring His tea. Bringing Him food. Taking care of His needs directly, in her own home. If anyone had a case for feeling justified, it was her.

Even serving the Lord can become an excuse to worry

And that's exactly the trap. Martha felt so justified in her worry that she was willing to look Jesus in the eye and ask Him to correct her sister on her behalf. She wasn't wrong to serve. She was wrong to let that service become worried and troubled about many things.

Ministers, this one's for you especially, but it applies to every Christian: you don't get to worry just because you're serving the Lord.

"But the lost, but the ministry, but the city" — yes, all of that matters. But worry over it doesn't help it. Worry chokes the very Word that would empower you to actually reach it.

Where is your time sitting at His feet, the way Mary did? Not just reading the Word, but actually spending time with Jesus? If the honest answer is "I've got too much to do," that's worth sitting with — because being worried and troubled about many things, even things done in service to Him, still chokes the Word the same way.

There is one thing that can never be taken from you

Buildings can be taken away. Money can be taken away. People can be taken away. But your personal relationship with Jesus, and your knowledge and expectancy in His Word — that's the one thing that restores everything else, and the one thing that can never be taken from you.

It can, however, be choked out by worry — even worry dressed up as devotion. Instead of trying to look super-spiritual by carrying the weight of everyone else's needs, go back and sit down with Jesus first. That's what actually makes you effective when you stand up to serve.

Fight To Win.