Life: God’s version of Take Your Child to Work Day”
Set Up to Succeed
Luke 12:22-34

May the grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ remove from you all anxieties and fears, as you go with Him about His work, every day!

-Was there stress going to work with Dad?

As we look at the idea of God taking his children to his work, to learn His craft, to work side by side with him. As I look back on those days, I realized something was missing from working with my dad. Something that has been part of every workplace I have ever have been at.

That lovely thing called stress….

Or maybe call it anxiety, or we simply worry about work.

I don’t remember that kind of stuff, as I worked alongside my dad, there was just the work. At least for the children that accompanied their dads—what their dads are going through is a different matter.

For us, being away from our normal world of school, the chance to be with our dad, and share in His work made for a day to be savored and enjoyed.

Just like we should savor and enjoy going to work with our Heavenly Father sd we daily go to work with Him.

What Stresses us out? Why?

When I was running bookstores, we have two kinds of audits, our annual audit by our company’s internal auditors, and several times a year, our regional managers did, called “zero defect” audits. Even though 2 of the 3 RM’s I worked with were really nice, sweet people, the specter of their audits haunts me even to this day.

The auditors from Chicago could be bluffed, could be distracted, they didn’t know us well enough to know where to look. They just knew they couldn’t go homne without finding something… so we would leave one little error…aand then thery would smile and go “gotcha” and then we would take them to lunch in Malibu. Anna and Peter though, knew us and our staff, and knew our weak points. And as they wanted us to succeed, that is where they focused their attention

Look at the gospel, here are the points where Jesus knew we were weak:

Fhe first area is large – “everyday life” and includes the really big things – where we will live and what we eat, or whether we will have good looking clothes, whether we we live to 100, or merely 61. We aren’t going to add time to our life just by worrying.

But we do it!

I do it all the time, and this week was harder than most. Between my surgery and needing more students, and the stresses of watching people in pain all around me, it was really easy for me to lose track of working with God!

Mark Jennins used to ask my why we need to, as pastors, live in the middle of our sermon. That is me this week. How do you balance all of this? How do we adress all the what ifs and what if it doesn’t…. And we consumed by our fears, urworries, our anxieties and doubts. TO the point where we are not thinking clearly.

And Jesus says

That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—

We know this, we believe it, so why are we unable ot stop the stuff that chase us in the night? Does that mean we are failures, does that mean we don’t believe God? Or that we get His promises wrong…

Then Jesus goes on, and says, “²⁵ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? ²⁶ And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?

And I feel nearly condemned, like the apostles did when Jesus confronts them with, “You have so little faith!”

Been there, done that, and to be honest – it is exhausting – physically, emotionally, spiritually….and if not careful, it can paralyze us, dividing us from those we love and care about…forgetting God put them there… to pray and support us in times like this!

Why can’t life be like when our dad or mom took us to work, and we just did the work they delegated, and enjoyed their company? Why can’t I just enjoy seeing what God is doing, and just relax – counting on His promises/

• Where does faith come in?

When Anna and Peter  gave their seemingly brutal debriefing on the zero defect audit, there was something different than the games played with the auditors from Chicago. Those guys didn’t care, it was their job to point out what was wrong. Anna and Peter however, had more invested in us – their success was judged by how we improved – their bonuses tied in part to it. For them to succeed, for them to hit their goals, we had to improve!

They had to invest in us.

Jesus would have us look at how the Father invests in their world. The beauty He creates, the care He takes of birds and wildflowers. All these little things, that he barely cares about, that He created four our enjoyment,

If he takes such care of these things, how will God take care of that which He cares the most for – the people He calls His children.

Jesus says don’t worry, and often I hear that part and get fixated on that…and let it be addded to the weight of the day…

But Hear it in context.

Don’t worry about such things. ³⁰ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. ³¹ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.

Hear that….the Father knows what we need!

As we work with Him, we can concentrate on the tasks at hand, knowing He is there to make it work, to cause us to grow, to help us succeed. He would rid us of every little thing that would hinder us, that would cause us worry.

After all, Christ didn’t die on the cross to provide for ravens and daffodils. He died on the cross for us, to forgive our sins, to bring us to the Father, and we get to go to work with Him!

We still do the work, but with a freedom that God is in control, that He is the one who promises that all will work for good for those of us who love Him.

That freedom is what allows us to set a different se of priorities, focusing on things of heaven, realizing our treasure is there, with Him. AMEN!