“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” – Philippians 4:6

James Cash Penney born on September 16, 1875, on a small farm outside Hamilton, Missouri. He was raised in an abiding faith in God and the Christian ethic of the Golden Rule. In 1902, he opened his first dry goods store in Kemmerer, Wyoming called The Golden Rule Store. His store became a hit and by the end of 1912, there were 34 Golden Rule Stores with sales exceeding $2 million. In 1929, J.C. Penney’s business was highly unstable. He began to worry and became sleepless. He worried to such an extreme that he contracted painful shingles. Penny was hospitalized and given tranquilizers, but it was no help. He still worried about his business. One night, he felt that he was about to die. He started writing farewells to his wife, son, and friends. But by the next morning, as he was lying on bed, he heard singing from the hospital chapel next door: “No matter what may be the test, God will take care of you. . .” Suddenly he leaned up, thinking: “It is real! God loves and cares for, me.” In no time, he had jumped out of his bed and entered the chapel. Penny gave his worries to Christ and the Lord continued to bless him.

Jesus Christ is bigger than any worry that you may have. Today in prayer, give the Lord your worries and rejoice in His goodness.

“Let us give up our work, our plans, ourselves, our lives, our loved ones, our influence, our all, right into [God’s] hand; and then, when we have given all over to Him, there will be nothing left for us to be troubled about.” – Hudson Taylor

God’s Word: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” – Matthew 6:25-26

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2002, Devotional E-Mail DEVOTIONS IN Philippians pkennedy@devotional.com