Scared to death!

Ever heard someone say “I was scared to death!”?   Since they were still talking, they did not die but we can all agree that fear is a miserable thing. A situation arose in my life this week that caused me great anxiety. When I went to bed, I felt the icy grip of fear. My thoughts tumbled, my mind creating all kinds of possible outcomes.  I admit it was hard even to pray and I clung to the promise that  “the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words." (Romans 8:26, NLT)   By faith, I am confident that in the will of my Father, there will be His perfect provision for every need.

Some fear is baseless, built on possibilities spun up out of our worst imaginations.  But we also recognize the reality of suffering, pain, war, and death that lurks in the world around us.  It’s hard for me to even imagine how difficult life is for those who live in a constant state of war in the Middle East or Ukraine. Those who live in areas of high crime must cope with anxiety, hoping not to be a victim of some punk with a gun.  Who hasn’t developed some health issue and felt the tension of angst about what it might mean for the future.  And, in the middle of this election season, our politicians are doing their best to stoke our fears of the future if the “other” guy wins!  I can safely say that worry is an epidemic in our the land.  Whirling graphics, ominous music, and charts in vivid colors fill our television screens.  Commercials try to convince us to buy that safer cars or better medicine, “ask your doctor.”  

Let me back up for a moment to acknowledge that most of us here in America, in spite of the noise and tempest in the news, enjoy amazingly good and long lives; with so many of our fears overblown and exaggerated.  Yet, there is real fear, chronic anxiety, that cripples many emotionally. So, what can we do about it?

When fear is real and possibilites of trouble exist that create geneuine anxiety, God, the Spirit, has an invitation for us.  “Just ask!”   
Not to be cliched, but truly we need to remind ourselves, “why should I worry when I can pray?”

Through Jesus, we are adopted into God’s family, becoming God’s beloved children. To us, He says -  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7, NIV)  True prayer, even if it just a sigh or a groan, is our privilege. When we insist on living in fear, trying so hard to control every outcome in life, we are actually,  Worrying is actually, living a kind of rebellion, refusing to fully trust ourselves to His care.  We cannot control the arrival of thoughts that tempt to us to be afraid and/or to worry, but we have a choice about what to do with those thoughts.

We can persist in worry, which is an act of disobedience and therefore, sin; (Lord, I need forgiveness. Help me in my unbelief!);

or we can prayerfully present those threats and needs to our Father and gain the supernatural serenity described this way - the 'peace of God which transcends human understanding.'

Let me ask you this simple question - Will you worry or will you pray?
Will you confess that God is bigger than any trouble that could come into your life, letting Him be Lord of life, or will you try 'manage the risks'  with increasingly anxious thoughts?

Think deeply on this inspired passage. "So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you hypocrites. Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor." (James 4:7-10, NLT)

I met that fear that overwhelmed me earlier this week by taking His invitation – “just ask!”   After spending a day or so, lost in the woods so to speak, I chose to thank Him for His faithfulness in the past, and for the gift of faith that will defeat fear.  The issue remains unresolved, but my heart is at rest.  You can do that, too!  As we see in word from the Word we are not careless, but we are cared for.  Note the interaction between our choice and God’s provision. "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you." (1 Peter 5:6-10, NKJV)

Now, friend, I'm going to pray. Will you?

_________

 

(Video of this blog at this link)

________________

 

Build My Life

(let this worship song speak to you today)

Worthy of ev’ry song we could ever sing

Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring

Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe

We live for You

 

Jesus the name above ev’ry other name

Jesus the only one who could ever save

Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe

We live for You

We live for You

 

Holy there is no one like You

There is none besides You

Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who You are

And fill me with Your heart

And lead me in Your love to those around me

 

I will build my life upon Your love

It is a firm foundation

I will put my trust in You alone

And I will not be shaken

 

Brett Younker | Karl Martin | Kirby Elizabeth Kaple | Matt Redman | Pat Barrett

© 2016 Martin, Karl Andrew (Admin. by Arkyard Music Services Limited)

Kaple Music (Admin. by Bethel Music Publishing)

Bethel Music Publishing

CCLI License # 810055

Pushing God out of the picture

After church worship yesterday a woman thanked me for the reminder that there is more to life than what is right in front of our eyes. Holding her hands just a couple of inches from her face she spoke of the many pressures and responsibilities that kept her from seeing the whole of life, of being aware of the larger purposes of the Lord God.  She is not unique, is she?    

We all can become so wrapped up in ‘living’ that God gets pushed, unintentionally, out of the picture.  We intend to prioritize the right things, to make time for prayer, to ‘keep step with the Spirit’ but the myriad voices of work, culture, and family can become so loud that their cadence call keeps us from walking with God – unless we continually refocus, reflect, and renew our commitment to Him.

Remaining God-aware is critically important in the disciple’s daily life!  How true those words of an old hymn – “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;  here’s my heart; O take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above.”  (Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing)  When we lose sight of God, if we fail to acknowledge His Presence each day – we will wander, becoming irreverent, sidelining the sacred – and in the process losing the security and purpose that comes from when we are close to our Father.

How wonderfully assuring it is, what a steadying blessing to sense, as He desires, that He cares, He loves, He leads. Moses urged the Israelites to cultivate their God-awareness. He said, "Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other." (Deuteronomy 4:39, NIV)

When Hagar, the maidservant of Abraham’s wife, Sarah, was badly mistreated and sent away with her child, in the wilderness He met her and she gave Him a new name: El Roi – “The God who sees me!” The text reads this way - "An angel of God found her beside a spring in the desert; it was the spring on the road to Shur. …She answered God by name, praying to the God who spoke to her, “You’re the God who sees me! “Yes! He saw me; and then I saw him!” " (Genesis 16:7, 13, The Message) 

My friend, He sees you.  Another way to say it is that He gets you, understanding you better than you know yourself. And, He has prepared a way for you through this day.

It is my habit to offer up thanks and praise to the Lord each morning.  “Lord, make me a blessing to others today. Help my words to encourage, my life to be honoring to You.”  It only takes a few seconds, but it is a habit that helps me to be God-aware.  As I make my way through the day, I pause to look up (emotionally and mentally, more than physically) to thank Him, to ‘see’ Him in my circumstances.  I need to remember, always, that He is the “God who sees me!” This is not for God’s benefit, but for mine! When I encounter difficult situations, I may complain at first, but generally my next response is to consciously ask His wisdom, to intentionally commit my way to Him, or, as necessary, to seek His forgiveness for my lapses in Self-will and sin.

Disciple, be intentionally God-aware. It is true that when we are children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus, that the Holy Spirit lives in us, but He does so sometimes without our conscious knowledge. When this happens we tend to lose the nobility of holiness that comes from knowing we are children of God, that our Father is with us. Ask any child who has a great relationship with his parent what having a constant sense of parental care provides for life!
Parental love means safety and security.
Parental affirmation brings encouragement and hope.
Parental discipline and guidance provides secure boundaries!

We know that is true for children. Be reminded, it is true for children of the Heavenly Father, too.

Here is a word from the Word. May it be the prayer of the God-aware today.

"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways." (Psalm 139:1-3, NIV)

"Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." (Psalm 139:7-10, NIV)

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(Video of this blog at this link)

Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing

 

Come Thou fount of ev'ry blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it
Mount of Thy redeeming love

 

Here I raise mine Ebenezer  (a memorial to God)
Hither by Thy help I'm come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wand'ring from the fold of God
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

 

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be
Let Thy grace Lord like a fetter
Bind my wand'ring heart to Thee\
Prone to wander Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart Lord take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

 

John Wyeth, Robert Robinson

© Words: Public Domain; Music: Public Domain