The folly of worry

Let me speak briefly, I have a confession to make... One of my sin struggles is worry. I fight it but find it a stumbling area often. Desiring to conquer this temptation by God's Spirit I sought out help from the Word of the Lord.  So here are my Biblical thoughts on worry and how to overcome it.

I thought of 5 Biblical reasons to avoid worry, and 4 Biblical ways to combat it.

1.) Worrying forgets the Gospel
It denies God’s sovereignty and power.  Christ has said in John 14 that we are not to let our hearts “be troubled.”  Why?  Because He was going to be and has now died and been raised, thereby making the way for man to get to God.  Worry denies the peace promised by the Holy Spirit and makes God out to be a liar.  It forgets the Gospel’s power to bring peace as it fails to trust that Christ is a refuge for all our strife.  Worry elevates some stresses as being beyond the perfect plan and power of God.

2.) Worrying is meditation
Defined, to meditate is to “think deeply or focus one's mind for a period of time.”1  It is to have your mind captive to something.  Scripture tells us that we are to let our minds dwell (meditate) on Christ and His Word.  The truths of God are to be our meditation.  In Psalm 19:14 the Psalmist pleads with God to let his every word, every thought and every devotion be pleasing to God.  Verse 13, however, sheds some additional light to his plea.  He petitions the Lord to keep him away from presumptuous sins.  The “presumptuous sin” in worrying is presuming that meditating on what you can do about a worry will produce a more favorable result.  It sets the meditation of your heart on that issue and resolving it as opposed to trusting the Lord to do what is right and in keeping with His perfect will.

3.) Worrying is idolatry
If worry is your meditation and meditation is that which you think and dwell on... then doesn’t it stand to reason that what you dwell on is your idol?  That stings a bit.  We know we aren’t to have any idols (Exodus 20:4-6).  Instead we are to dwell on Christ alone, but how easily idols sneak in and construct themselves in plain sight, and before we know it we have allowed them choice real estate in our heart.  Idols form when our hearts are drawn away from Christ by other things (Deuteronomy 30:17).  They are demonic in origin and dressed as something seemingly harmless but massively destructive to us.  Be on guard for them in your heart.

4.) Worrying is disobedient
It seems that this one should be most obvious, yet it bears stating even still.  Matthew 6:25-27, Jesus declares that we aren’t to worry.  Our Father, He says, knows our needs and will provide.  So to engage in constant worry is to disobey the Word of the Lord.  Before you think me legalistic, please remember that God’s Law is a law of liberty!  Though often stated in the negative (“Thou shall not...”) they are always intended for our good.  They are intended to preserve our joy by focusing us on Him and our need for Him in all things.

5.) Worrying is vanity
What good does worrying incessantly do?  “Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:27).  What more needs to be said about the sheer wastefulness and vanity of worrying?

So what should we do?

I write to you, the one tempted to incessant worrying, from the trenches with you.  My mother says that I get that nature from her.  Maybe I am predisposed genetically to struggle with worry to some extent, but the truth is that I wrestle with it because sin dwells in my flesh.  I don’t set out trying to worry, but it creeps in at times just the same.  At its worst in me I literally lie in bed, my mind racing so fast over the many daily things I’ve decided to worry about, that I can hardly lie still.  There are few things more frustrating than a restless mind fixated on worry.  For someone whose sin struggle doesn’t include worrying, this is hard to understand.  I explained that those times when the worrying is at its worst, in my mind, it feels as though I am trying to divide a number by a color to derive a letter.  I mean that quite literally!  I have seen that frustrating formula over and over in my mind at times.  (I should note that these extreme times happen mostly while I am trying to sleep, but during times of extreme worry nonetheless). It is the sign of just sheer mental exhaustion that has come on over time as I have failed to pray and rest in Christ as I ought.  As the Lord works in and grows me I am learning how to more quickly rest in Him and for that I am grateful.

Can you relate to this struggle?  If so, here are some Scriptural helps.

1.) Pray – (Philippians 4:6) – Seems simple, but for those who struggle with worry we also struggle to keep our mind focused during times of prayer.  If you find it difficult to pray at all times and stay focused, wrestle and pray all the more!  Strive in prayer until you feel the Spirit of God bring you rest.

2.) Seek God’s Glory, not Your Solutions. – (Matthew 6:33) – Certainly we are to engage our minds in problem solving but there is a difference between evaluation and problem solving vs worry.  Ask God to help you seek His will above all things.  Seek His wisdom and trust His sovereign plan.  Striving with worry will only weigh you down (Proverbs 12:25).

3.) Humble Yourself. – (1 Peter 5:6-11) – Worry is arrogant because it sets our “wisdom” over God’s.  Scripture says to humble ourselves “under the Mighty Hand of God.”  We are to cast all our cares upon Him “because He cares for” us and is abundantly mighty to take all the cares we can think of and infinitely more.  We are promised rest if we will seek it from the Lord (Matthew 11:28-30).

4.) Remember the Gospel. – (Romans 8:28-39) – Are you born again?  Redeemed by Christ?  Think on that!  What greater promise is there?   I know of none, than to be certain that I have been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ.  Remember the Gospel and apply it!  What worry is greater than the problem you once had of being condemned and under the wrath of God for your sin?  None.  Yet Christ was mighty enough to rescue you from your condemnation.  Will He now not be able to strengthen you, guide you, and give you joy and rest?  Of course!  Nothing, not even that which you worry over, can separate you from the love of God in Jesus Christ.  Nothing.  So, my fellow worriers, let’s press on in the love of Christ together and trust Him to care for us as He has promised to do.

If you found this article helpful, please encourage others by re-posting it to your facebook, twitter, or other appropriate social media outlet. Also, feel free to comment and let me know how God has worked in you to overcome worry.

Pondering the Death of Christians...

For about the last six months our church has been going through a season filled with many tears.  Over the last six months we have had to say 'goodbye for now' to dear and beloved people from amongst our membership.

All of this has of course placed the topic of death and final moments freshly on my mind. 

With each death I have sought to provide some comfort from Scripture for the grieving family and church family members.

All of that has led me to a few glimmers of hope extended to those mourning the death of a Christian.

 

Death for a believer is NECESSARY

That seems a bit obvious to say since we know that every living person one day experiences a physical death.  However death must come for a believer so that they may begin to enjoy that which has been promised to them. 

It is written in 1 Peter chapter 1 - [3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [4] to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, [5] who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. [6] In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, [7] so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. [8] Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, [9] obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

As hard as this is to hear in a moment like this, we ought to seek to rejoice through our tears when a believer passes because they have now begun truly living.  The departed Christian now experiences true life.  Eternal life!  That which they had become truly persuaded of; that their sins had been forgiven by Christ.

Having entrusted their soul to a Savior who had caused them to be born again not to a vain or dead thing, but a Living Hope! 

We can rejoice in the face of the loss of a loved one who knew Christ because we know that they now experience a life that is unlike anything we can possibly know while in this body of flesh.

Believers live with an expectancy and trust that they will see Christ.  Christ so conquered death that He not only rescues those who trust Him from their sins but He also guarantees them life in Him.

Job 19:25-27 - [25] For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. [26] And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, [27] whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.

Death, for a believer, is also TIMELY

While we cannot prepare for it no matter how much we are aware that it is coming, no one dies before the time that God has appointed for them to.

Hebrews 9:27 - [27a] And just as it is appointed for man to die once,

The time of all our deaths has been set by God Himself.  We can take comfort in knowing that God brings His children home to Him at the proper time.

Although we would seek to keep our loved ones near us for our whole lives, we rest in knowing that no one dies too soon or by accident.

Further, the believer never dies too late.  Rather they depart this world for their home in Heaven has been prepared and is ready for them to dwell in.

John 14:1-3 - [14:1] “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. [2] In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Death for a believer brings time in the house of mourning

 Now you may be wondering how this could possibly be a good thing? 

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 -  [2] It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. [3] Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. [4] The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

I have learned far more from seasons of great sorrow than many seasons of mirth put together.  It is in the times of sorrow that we most learn to grow in grace.   Death brings a sharpness of mind that presses believer's to think about their own coming departure.  

It forces us to ask the hard questions like, 'Am I loving my family well and do they know how much I love them?', 'Am I leaving a legacy of Christlike faith for my loved ones to remember me by?', 'Am I making the most of every moment of this life God has given me?'

Those are not questions that we tend to ask in times of joy because we assume, in those times, that all of those answers are 'yes'.  But when we are walking through the death of a loved one, through the tears, our minds sober up and think on those things which actually matter.

Believers can find it better to  be in the house of mourning because of what it reminds us of:

Lastly, the death of a believer is a SOUND REMINDER for us all.

For Christians:

For those of you who are believers, you have every reason to rejoice that you too will one day not only be reunited with your loved one but even more amazing that that, you will also one day see Christ face to face!

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 - [13] But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. [14] For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. [15] For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. [16] For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. [17] Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. [18] Therefore encourage one another with these words.

We are to encourage one another.  Be assured that as we hurt through the deaths of believers we can also be reminded that God’s promise to bring us home to eternity is coming to pass!  

The death of a Christian is another reminder that God is faithful.  He has said that those who are in Christ will one day leave this world and go to be with Him and as Believers die, we can see that this is true!

We do not hope in vain, rather we have become persuaded from the heart that God is true and that Christ has paid our sin debt so that we can be fully pardoned and reconciled to God!

For Unbelievers:

If you have never come to Christ having turned from your sin having sought His forgiveness. 

May I say to you that are in great peril!  You have every reason to fear your appointed death for just as it has been appointed that you too will die, you will face God’s judgment.  Judgment for your manifold transgressions.

Hebrews 9:27 - [27] And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.

The Bible says that we have all fallen short of God’s glory.  All of us have broken God’s law and become like one who is unclean.  Your sins are not just your mistakes nor are they merely mistakes. 

They are all your lies, lusts, envies, jealousies, blasphemes, hatred and they are all acts of treason against a Holy and Just God.  All of them justly condemning you before a Him. 

But God in His mercy has extended to you His grace that if you will confess your sins and turn to the goodness of Jesus Christ, who has died to pay your sin debt, God will forgive you because of Christ’s merits and grant you forgiveness, eternal life, and the peace which passes all understanding.

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST FOR 'MAC' MCFADDEN!

Many of you have seen my status updates on facebook requesting prayer for my friend Mac.  Mac is a member of my church and a friend.  To give you a brief update, a few weeks ago Mac went in to get a stint put into his heart.  Now, Mac is diabetic and has had heart bypass sugery in the past as well so naturally those two things complicate matters a bit more.

There were complications and they couldn't put the stint in.  They decided that another bypass was necessary.  So Wednesday they took him in for another heart bypass surgery.  It took all day but the surgery was a success and the bypasses all took just fine.  Later than night however Mac began having some trouble breathing and they found that his oxygen levels weren't coming up and staying up as they needed to.  I don't fully understand all the details on that so that's all I can tell you about that. 

They got his oxygen up a little last night but sometime early this morning it got low enough that they had to put him back on a ventilator, his stomach is very swolen, and he's having some kidney troubles...

I spoke with Linda, his wife, a moment ago and she said that his situation is serious but the doctors feel like he's going to come through it just fine.  The main thing is please pray for Mac and Linda.  Mac for healing and Linda for some comfort in that God is Sovereign and has all of this in control.

I am leaving shortly for Wichita Falls to go and see him in the hospital and will try and keep you all updated as time permits.

Feel free to text me if you would like quicker updates... my mobile number is listed on my facebook profile for all those who are on my friends list.


Soli deo Gloria,
j