The guy preaching in church today said he heard a quote from Time Magazine this week that said "the defining factor of our culture today is stress and anxiety"....yep...not generosity, charity, overcoming odds, helping our neighbors, progressing as a nation, or anything else positive like that...just STRESS and ANXIETY!
As much as I hate to admit it...I'm a worry-crazed woman at times. It's amazing how fear and anxiety can completely consume you if you allow it. It's like when you're home alone and you hear a noise...it doesn't take long for you to convince yourself that there is someone else in the house and they're coming to get you...before you know it you're upstairs hiding in your room with the door shut! The power of the mind is amazing....but the power of God is far more phenomenal!!!
Most people struggle with this...all sorts of things we worry about on a daily basis: money, our future, our relationships or lack thereof, our schedules, our jobs, our families, our health....the list could go on and on...The beauty though is that there's nothing to worry about at all!!! The Bible has a lot to say about this life. The one topic it talks about the most is money (i believe)...but I would be willing to bet (since I'm not certain), that worry and anxiety are pretty high on the list of things that God talks to us about....here are some examples....
“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. ” -Genesis 15:1
"Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.” - Genesis 26:24
"Do not be afraid of them; the LORD your God himself will fight for you.” -Deuteronomy 3:22
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” -Joshua 1:9
The list could go on an on...in fact...I looked it up on www.biblegateway.com (love this website) and found that there are 106 times the phrase "do not be afraid" is in the Bible...and that's just one way of saying it!
I know it's tough...and I'm talking to myself the most, but letting go of the everyday stresses and worries that we as humans so desperately hold onto is critical for our faith. I feel like this is a "soap box" issue for me so I could probably go on and on about it for a while...but I'll end with just a few things I wrote down from church today that really hit home with me:
--Fear only attacks the things you care about...if you didn't care, it wouldn't matter.
--There is a huge difference in "Believing in God" and "BELIEVING GOD"
Believe God for what he says, take him at his Word (Bible)...he will never leave you, never forsake you...he's got your back...ALWAYS...even when times are hard
--Fear never tries to change your belief in God...it only tries to change the believability of God.
--Fear wants you to believe in Gods ways and what he calls you to do...but never act on it.
--Fear doesn't want you to change your belief in God, it just wants to make it meaningless -- fear doesn't care if you're a Christian...it just doesn't want you to act like it.
The pastor gave a great example...when we freak out about things we're dealing with...we never jump to...Oh, well this sucks, I'm an atheist now...but oh how easy is it to completely forget that God is right there with us...and that he will carry us through whatever we are struggling with...
Want a good story in the Bible about fear...and overcoming it...check out 1 Samuel 17 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20samuel%2017&version=NIV )
No comments:
Post a Comment