Friday, November 8, 2013
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It was one a record-breaking pre-summer day in Denver - 99 degrees. I was there. I know. And after I finished speaking in the afternoon I went out for a vigorous 45-minute walk - Mr. Fitness. After I put a few blocks behind me, I was asking myself one question, "How come I'm not sweating much?" If I was home, man, I'd be wet all over. Denver doesn't have the kind of heat that I'm used to. They don't have the humidity. Oh, but a couple of days later, I was in Chicago. I took three steps and soaked my shirt. It's the same when I went home to New Jersey, where according to a meteorologist a 100-degree day actually felt like 126 degrees because the air was saturated. Isn't it nice to be in a place where it's hot but you don't have to perspire as much?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "No Sweat."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 5, and I'm going to read verses 1 and 2 so I can read you verse 3, so you know how hot it is where David is, I mean in terms of the stress temperature. He says, "Give ears to my words, O Lord. Consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King, my God, for to You I pray." Okay, it's hot. He's sighing; he's crying for help.
And then he gives the secret of not sweating as much when it's hot all around you. Verse 3, "In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice. In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." That's beautiful! He lays his day in front of the Lord and leaves the house with a sense of expectancy rather than dread, knowing this is going to be a day the Lord has made.
The difference between a hot place and a hot, sweaty place is whether or not the air is clear; whether there's somewhere for the moisture to go. In a sense, what God through David is recommending here is that you clear out the air before you head into the heat of your day. Empty out those concerns that are just clogging the atmosphere around you and maybe inside you. Do that at the beginning of your day.
Begin your day with praying through that day before you ever enter into it. So reserve some early time to specifically pray through what your morning, your afternoon, your evening are going to hold as far as you know. Put it all in front of God. Walk through the next 16 hours or so with Jesus. Mentally take Him into each part of that day and consciously make it His not yours. Picture the difference He's going to make in the job you've got to finish, the calls you have to make, the assignments you'll be working on. Turn over to Jesus the major conversations, the major people you expect to be around this day.
Give Him the financial challenges of the day; the things you're looking forward to and the things you're dreading. Let Him take away some of that fear and worry, some of the anger, some of the tension. You're releasing the details of your day from your hand and you're putting them into the hands that rule the galaxies; to the One whose hands are nail-scarred because of how much He loves you.
When you bowed your head or got on your knees, you may have been overwhelmed by this day, but when you open your eyes you should be a lot lighter because you've given it to the King of all kings. And you should be expecting God to make a difference in it. And I'll tell you I am very grateful for the people who pray for us regularly; for this ministry regularly. I can't tell you the difference you're making and the power that's providing. We just live the answers to your prayers.
You've probably had enough overheated days, right? And you can't do much to lower the temperature around you, but you can clear the air by anticipating that day with Jesus and then you'll have room for the heat of the day. And when people ask, "How are you doing?", you can say with new enthusiasm, "No sweat!"