Don' Worry, be happy!

Matt 6:  ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[e]?

In the insightful theology of Bob Marley: Don't worry, be happy!  Sounds easy enough, but the engineer in me always asks: how?  Some turn to chemical assistance.  Others turn to the advice or simply gossip of others.  The Gospel message is not about finding answers within ourselves or even in this world, but to look to God.  Matthew chapter 6 reminds us that we are to depend on God for everything, what we eat, drink, etc.  Yet the pattern I see in my own life and in the life of the church is to be self-sufficient until that turns out to be insufficient.  Once in a crisis, we pray that 9-1-1 prayer that starts "Oh God!"  The root cause as I see it is summed up in an excellent blog by a Haitian Missionary who points to the fact that we treat the gospel message as simply a "get-out-of-hell-free card."  In other words, we buy into Jesus as Savior, but we don't want to let Jesus be Lord.  We're quick to let Jesus be Lord over those things we have no control over such as life and health, but our careers, relationships, appetites, hobbies, etc are all off-limits as we believe we can be the masters of our own happiness.  Then we spend hours upon hours wondering why we're not content, we lack joy, and we can't seem to find fulfillment in life.  I believe this is the Holy Spirit screaming at us that we're missing out on the benefits of a spirit-filled, God-centered, Jesus is Lord of all life.  When we fail to allow God to be fully in charge, then we're forced to worry about how things will turn out.  We worry about how others will perceive us.  We worry about how our careers will progress, what will happen tomorrow in my job, what will happen in my relationships, how will my kids turn out, and on and on.  This is not the life that Jesus has called us to live.  We are to live in the confidence that God goes before us (Ps 119:105), has a plan for us that is filled with hope (Jer 29:11), that all these things will be added (Matt 6:33).  We need to live in confidence that God holds our future and in the end, God wins!  I believe it is confidence in the one who can truly not just save us, but truly give our life purpose, meaning, direction, and joy that displaces fear and worry. 
Does your life give testimony to a God who is Lord of all and in whom you rely daily or have you bought into the lie that God rewards those who help themselves?  Are you planning, scheming, worrying, developing a plan and asking God to endorse it or are you praying that God would guide you and living in confidence that He didn't bring you this far to abandon you now? 
What are you worried about?  Perhaps God is pointing out an area in your life that isn't yielded to His lordship, something that you stubbornly hold onto as "yours."  Do you trust him or do you think you've got this?  Jesus said you can only serve one master.  Is Jesus Lord, or are you in charge?