Sometimes when we get totally immersed in all the bad news we hear we start to get negative and angry. We may even lose focus and get cynical and even cranky. That is when worry and fear can find a space in our hearts and begin to take root. When the seed of worry starts to grow our faith in our loving God seems to shrink ever so slightly and if we allow the seed of worry to continue to grow we will find ourselves a worrisome mess of an individual with a horrible empty feeling of having no hope.
We must remember however that there is indeed hope for you and me. There is hope for all of us in the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't have to allow fear and worry to take over our lives. Sometimes our enemy, the devil, will shoot flaming arrows of worry and doubt at us to make us stumble and lose hope in our God. We must put on the full armor of God that the Apostle Paul speaks of in the book of Ephesians (Ephesians 6:10-18).
When it comes to worry and fear we find the Lord telling people throughout the Bible several times not to fear for He is always with us and He will never forsake us if we put our faith and trust in Him. We are told by Jesus Himself that we will indeed have trouble in this world, but He also tells us to take heart that He has overcome the world and for that we should be eternally grateful.
I am reminded of what Jesus says in Luke 12:22-34 which says,
"22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.
23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.
24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!
25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?
26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
27 “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!
29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it.
30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them.
31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.
33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
I know I have written about worry and fear before, but I think it really good for us to remember how to handle our worries and fear properly by giving them to the Lord and remember that He is the One we can count on no matter what craziness is going on in our world and in our own very lives.
Jesus tells us not to worry about our lives, what we will wear and eat and our every day needs. The Lord provides for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. He will most certainly provide for you and me and all of those who have put their faith and trust in Him. We are much more important than birds or flowers. We have been created in God's image and He loves us with a great unconditional love. He loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. What great love He has showered upon us by giving every believer in Christ the Holy Spirit to indwell us.
Why do we still worry and fear? Sometimes we lose focus. The world is a scary place. We don't know what tomorrow will bring. There could be a horrible tragedy that affects someone we love or know. Our lives could be altered in a terrible way. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, but the good news is that God is already there waiting to help us through all of our tomorrows until the day He takes us Home to be with Him forever in Heaven. That is the hope that we have when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
We must not chase after material things. We need them, but we must seek first the Kingdom of God and know that He will provide all the things we truly need. That doesn't mean that we will always get what we want, but the Lord will give us those things that are necessary for us to live and do His will.
Our hearts must be focused solely upon the Lord. That means we will need to be emptied of self and that is the work of the Holy Spirit. We all have a sin nature and we all have some pride issues and we tend to be selfish at times. The Holy Spirit is working in our lives to make us more like Jesus Christ each and everyday and His work in we believers in Christ won't be completed until we are taken Home to Glory where we will see the Lord with our own eyes.
What a great and awesome Day that will be when we will be with the Lord Jesus Christ forever. He needs to be our focus. He needs to be our delight. He needs to be our hearts desire above all else. This world and those things that worry us won't last very long in the light of eternity. In Heaven there will be no more worries and no more fears and He will wipe away every tear. When we reach those blessed Heavenly shores all of those worries and fears will be wiped away and our perspective will change because we will know that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ brought us through the fire and flames of life on earth and He will welcome us into our eternal Home in Heaven to be with Him for all eternity.
There will be no more worries there. No more fear or terror. No more lies. No sin. No pain. No sickness. No death.
We will be in the loving presence of our loving Savior Jesus Christ.
We come to Him by faith in what He did for us on the Cross. He shed His precious blood for our sins. He rose from the grave on the third day and One Day He will return.
When we have Jesus residing in our hearts and our lives we don't have a reason to worry because all of our fear is gone. He is our hope and I pray that even though our world may fall apart all around us that we will remember that we belong to Jesus and He will never leave our side even when worry and fear threatens our hearts and our minds.
Lord,
Thank You for loving us so very much. Thank You that we don't have to give into our worries because You are always with us each step of the way. We put our faith and hope in You O Lord.
In Jesus name we pray,
Amen.
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