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June 19th
Anxiousness">
June 19th Anxiousness, Control and
Trusting God Be on
guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and
drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly
like a trap; Luke 21:34 NASB
19The creation waits in eager
expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation
was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one
who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will
be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of
the children of God. 22We know that the whole creation has been
groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not
only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan
inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our
bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no
hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for
what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:19-25 NIV
6Do not be anxious about anything, but
in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests
to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 NIV Jesus warned about the “worries
of life,” which could weigh our hearts down and distract our focus from God. A
common temptation we may experience is to become anxious about the worries of
life that we’re facing. The Bible warns us not to be anxious for good reason. A root of anxiousness is the
desire to be in control. We humans love to be in control of our environment and
when we’re not in control, we tend to get uncomfortable. For example, I had
been getting distraught over the weeds invading my lawn. No matter how many
chemicals I put down, nothing seemed to stop the advance of the weeds. I was
not in control and nature was taking its course. Every time I mowed the lawn I
was reminded about the fact that I could not control the grass. In desperation,
I rehearsed the possible emergency actions I could take including re-sodding the
yard, paving the yard or turning into a “rock garden.” This desperate thinking
was dragging me down and distracting me from focusing on God. I was allowing
the grass to ruin my day every time I had to mow it. I thought about other areas of
anxiousness in my life and realized that lack of control seemed to be at the
root of all of them. Most of the areas were linked to the inexorable decay of
this present world as we know it. John wrote, “The
world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives
forever” (1 John 2:17 NIV). If we derive our hope and comfort in life
from controlling things in the world (or people), we’re bound to be
disappointed. God wants us to focus on him and
not allow the worries of life to distract us and weigh our hearts down. We can
realistically expect that things around us are going to decay and that we cannot
stop it. We can, however fix our hope on the coming redemption of our physical
bodies and the full manifestation of our identity as children of God. As the
things of the world fail around us (ex. cars breaking down, bodies getting sick,
home repairs, lawn problems, etc.) or threaten to steal our peace, we can lay
them down at God’s throne in prayer and receive God’s “perfect peace” that
surpasses understanding. Paul wrote:
6Do not be anxious about anything, but
in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests
to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 NIV God’s peace will help us trust
him with those concerns and wait on his timing and provision to solve them. We
can also remind ourselves of God’s word whenever we’re tempted to get anxious
again over those issues: “God is our refuge and
strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1 NIV). Our trust
in him will be reflected by our willingness not to take the issues back from his
arms and worry about them. Questions for further thought: Prayer: “Heavenly Father,
thank you that I don’t have to worry about the issues of life. Thank you that I
can take all the cares of my life and cast them before you in prayer. I
recognize that I live in a decaying world and put my hope and trust in you.
Please help me trust you with my concerns and not drift back into anxiousness
about them. Thank you for loving me and caring for me! I praise you now and
forever. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.” |