No Worries!

" Worry implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to care of what's happening in our lives."
                                                                                                                                       Francis Chan




     It is the pressures in our lives that scream for us to worry about tomorrow.  Each one of us can sustain a certain level of pressure under which we can still function normally.  And yet, we can all find ourselves in a place where the circumstances of life begin to feel like a pressure-cooker, and we are overwhelmed.

     This is what happened to the prophet, Elijah.  Physical and emotional exhaustion collided in Elijah's life just following a spectacular display of God's power in front of the king and queen of Israel and their false prophets.  Elijah's hopes for the redemption of Ahab and Jezebel abruptly came to a screeching halt at the reality of their depravity.  The proverbial "straw" that broke for Elijah occurred when Jezebel sent this message to him:
     " Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the [Baal]
     prophets with the sword.  So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, ' May the gods deal 
     with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of
     one of them.'
     Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.  When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant
     there, while he himself went a days journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush,
     sat down under it and prayed that he might die.  ' I have had enough, Lord,' he said. ' Take
     my life; I am no better than my ancestors.'  Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.
     All at once an angel touched him and said, ' Get up and eat.'  He looked around, and there
     by his head was some bread baked over hot coals and a jar of water.  He ate and drank and then 
     lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time  and touched him and said,
     ' Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.'
     So he got up and ate and drank.  Strengthened by that food, he travelled forty days and forty 
     nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God." ( 1 Kings 19:1-8).

     After all the exciting exploits Elijah had experienced with God, it would be easy for us to imagine him as a spiritual superhero of sorts.  However, the book of James tells us that Elijah was " a man just like us."  ( James 5:17).  What?  He had seen God raise people from the dead, multiply food supplies during a famine,  and bring holy fire down on wet wood.  Mind-bending, jaw-dropping kind of miracles.  I don't know about you, but I've never seen anyone involved in any of those kinds of miracles, let alone all of them! And yet, even after the Mount Carmel piece de resistance, Elijah turned and ran because he was consumed with worry and fear.

     It's hard to understand why Elijah may have vacillated between such extremes.  Had he convinced himself that after God's dramatic display of power that all who witnessed it would be saved?  Or, was he shocked to learn that there were still some who were provoked to rage because their idol, Baal, had been humiliated?  Is it possible that Elijah's imagination set him up for the reality he faced?

     The truth is, we can only speculate.  What we can know for certain is that if the Bible highlights the emotional roller coaster this committed man of God experienced, then we, too, may experience a gamut of emotions in spite of a sincere faith.  The question is not IF we will ever worry or be afraid.  The real question is how will we deal with our worries and fears when they arise.

     We really have two options: we can focus on our worries and let our imaginations get the best of us OR we can turn to God and the Bible to find our answers.  God's Word is filled with promises if we will entrust our cares into His capable Hands.  Psalm 55:22 tells us to " Cast our burdens on the Lord, and He shall sustain us;  He shall never permit the righteous to be moved."

     The same God who redeemed the world certainly knows how to govern it.  The problem then becomes our focus.  In his book, The Me I Want To Be: Becoming God's Best Version Of You, John Ortberg says,  " We tend to be preoccupied by our problems when we have a heightened sense of vulnerability and a diminished sense of power.  Instead, we should view each problem as an invitation to prayer."

     Oftentimes, we forget to pray and allow worry to rob us of our power and peace.  God gave us our imagination to use in a constructive way.  However, when misused, we use it in destructive patterns that often repeatedly occur like a bad tape stuck in an old VCR machine.  Often, these habits even become generational within our families and begin to affect both behaviors and personalities.

     Numerous surveys on worry indicate that only about eight percent of things people worry about were even legitimate concerns.  The other ninety-two percent were either imaginary or involved matters where the people had absolutely no control over the situation.  That represents a whole lot of wasted worry!

     Even though some are more prone to worry than others, persistent worry is not the calling of believers in Christ.  The fruit of worry is bondage, and ultimately, death.  God created us to reign with Him ( even over worry), and He gives us His grace and His power to do so.

     Worry is the opposite of power.  Max Lucado says, " Worry divides the mind."  And we know that anything that is divided has less efficacy and purpose.  As sons and daughters of Christ, this is not God's plan.

     To change the outcome of worry, we have to change the patterns of it.  Instead of just omitting it from our lives "cold turkey", we have to replace it with something else.  Before we replace it, we have to recognize it and determine that we will not tolerate it- even, a little.

     For some of us, there are certain times of the day or week that we worry more.  In these situations we can proactively distract ourselves and we can pray.  We can identify our anxious thoughts and replace them by speaking the Word of God.  An example might be,  " The peace of God transcends my understanding and guards my heart and mind in Christ Jesus."  ( Philippians 4:7).

     Grace is stronger than sin.  When Jesus died, He not only saved us from something, He saved us to something.  And it is grace that will abound and triumph.  The book of Romans says that the " sin of one man [Adam] caused sin and death to rule over many.  But even greater is God's wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ."  ( Romans 5:17).

     By faith, we do "have the mind of Christ and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart."  ( 1 Corinthians 2:16).  This means we entrust our cares unto Him and know that He can and will take care of all that concerns us.  Therefore, beloved, we have no worries!


" Life... as God intended it enables us to live above the drag of fear, superstition, shame, pessimism, guilt, anxiety, worry, and all the negativity that keeps people from seizing each day as a gift from Him."
                                                                                                                                Charles R. Swindoll