"Why worry, when you can pray? / Trust Jesus, He'll be Your stay / Don't be a "doubting Thomas"; / Rest fully on His promise / Why worry, worry, worry, worry / When you can pray?"
It's a simple song that I sang dozens of times as a child. In my child-like naiveté, I often wondered how anyone could walk a path besides that of faith. But sure enough, as I sought to pursue a quiet spirit, I found myself stumbling down a treacherous walkway named Worry. Following this trail, I learned just how far removed I was from that unbothered spirit so highly praised in I Peter 3.
Advertisements from a reprint of a 1910 Sears and Roebuck catalog are transfixed in my memory as I consider a unique treasure from my childhood. Sometimes I'd settle onto the carpet in our living room, the reprinted catalog before me, imagining life as it had been and would be no more. Now imagine with me for a moment a catalog entitled Worry. Page 21 contains the section entitled "Desire for Others' Good Opinion" (even though God says "favor is deceitful"). Here, advertisements abound, luring the potential buyer to partake in some appealing brand of worry. Pages 25-35 alphabetically list stresses
caused by unforeseen circumstances. The last quarter of the book pictures all sorts of possibilities that may occur in trying times. While no such physical catalog exists, we often live as if we know pages of the worry catalog far better than the rock-solid promises of the Word of God!
Consider the words of Romans 6:6— “Know ye
not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to
whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness?” In life, we may feel the muscle of circumstance becoming strained as we immediately respond to some curve ball or change up—and expect to win the
game to follow. No matter the circumstance, Peter’s message
to women--and Paul’s message to the Thessalonians-- encourages us to walk the way
of quiet surrender.
In all reality, the One who is acquainted
with all our ways has gone before us this day! His Word tells us in Psalm 139 that He has
beset our path both before and behind! In embracing this phenomenal truth, I found that worry is an enemy to biblical meditation. That circumstance, which
I had turned over in the video department of my mind, could rest in His care. I could replace systematized meditation upon that unfortunate event (worry) with biblical meditation upon God's truth. I could "meditate day and night" upon the promises of Scripture. Instead of picturing possible problems, I could consider Christ walking into that situation ahead of me. Perhaps it was a strained relationship. I could imagine our Lord there at that moment, calming the heart
of that one, supplying grace and love in abundance. I could view Christ the
Victor leading me into that turbulent place—wherever it was, at home, at work, with others, or alone—and putting my fretful heart at rest. The billows might enter the bark, but He could still calm the storm!
What a blessed thought! Our heavenly Father knows our needs even before we even ask Him. In all reality, the very hairs of our head are
all numbered! The Good Shepherd has put
His hand upon us and is acquainted with all our ways (Psalm 139). As incredible as it seems, there is not a
word in our tongues but—lo! He knoweth it altogether! His loving ear hears those words that no one
else discerns coming from the cry of an aching heart; He, mercifully and pitifully, extends His hands—those nail-pierced ones—and longs for us to take
consolation in the truth that Christ Jesus was in all points “tempted like as
we are, yet without sin”!
Is it possible, in this day of ministry burnout, panic attacks, and the like, that we as Christian women have failed to recognize the sinfulness
of worry? Worry threatens the path of victorious Christian living--and that pursuit of quietness commanded in I Thessalonians 4. In embracing worry, we essentially commit idolatry, placing the god of our own opinion above the God of the Scripture. In essence, we become
practical atheists in our Christianity, fretting about little things, failing to cast into His lap the whole lot. Though we know all is from Him and
orchestrated by His hand, we continue the daily, miserable cycle of
anxiety. Instead of being anxious for
nothing, we can worry about almost everything.
Instead of being stayed upon Jehovah, we can so easily focus upon the problems about
us. Then, instead of finding perfect peace, we
find instead emptiness, hopelessness, vanity, and a lot of inner turmoil--a far cry from the place of quiet rest so commended in I Peter 3 and commanded in I Thessalonians 4:11a.
Eight
times in the book of Psalms we read the prayer “quicken me.” Quicken
has changed somewhat in meaning from the way it was used in 1611, but noting
other uses of the word in Scripture will help us discern its intent. Elsewhere it is translated “live, life,
alive, revive, recover.” When God says
He will judge the quick and the dead
(I Peter 4:5; 2 Tim. 4:1), for example, we understand that He will judge the living and the dead. How desperately we
need God’s perspective to transform our worried hearts; we need His quickening.
When we are made aware of a sin’s enormity, repentance demands that we turn
from that sin, thinking differently about it.
In the texts below, note how the psalmist cries out for God’s awakening
in his own spirit:
Behold,
I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness (Ps.
119:40).
“Quicken
me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth
(Ps. 119:88).
“I
am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word”
(Ps. 119:107).
Hear
my voice according unto thy lovingkindness: O LORD, quicken me according
to thy judgment “ (Ps. 119:149).
“Plead
my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word” (Ps.
119:154)
“Great
are thy tender mercies, O LORD: quicken me according to thy judgments
(Ps. 119:156).
“Consider
how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O LORD, according to thy
lovingkindness” (Ps. 119:159).
“Quicken
me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul
out of trouble” (Ps. 143:11).
We
would do well, when turning from any sin, to pray such prayers with the
psalmist, to beg God for his quickening in our hearts, which have been
spiritually deadened by our failure to yield to Him from the time we open our
eyes in the morning until we close them again at night. This cry of desperation often softens the
soils of our hearts so hardened by sin and allows the Master Plower to begin
his furrows anew, ever deepening our fellowship with Him. In this soil, the Spirit’s fruit flourishes
and grows.
That
continual yieldedness to His way, the bowing of our hearts to His Word—these
our Lord does not despise. At every juncture, yield. Certainly deliverance from
any sin involves, not only a yielding, but also an embracing of God’s
commands.
My
first I-pad was a bargain. Not
incredibly concerned about having the latest technology, a young man in our
church, who had recently upgraded his I-pad, was looking for a buyer for his
older model. This device had a bit of
wear—the screen had been replaced. But
it cost me a mere $100. My laptop was
slowly dying (the screen would black out on me several times a day) and, being
a teacher, I felt the I-pad would assist me when my computer was not
cooperating. I purchased the I-pad and
received an essentially new device. Any
Apps I wanted I would need to acquire for myself.
In
a similar way, our hearts need a switch to occur. For us, that change may mean deleting “old
programs” with worry data and reinstalling the lasting Apps which have as their
description “God’s thoughts.” Reformat
the hard drive. Reprogram the
device. That device is our mind, the
place of continual spiritual warfare.
I’ve listed a few files that need to be placed on the computer, a few
Apps that need to be installed and daily accessed:
“In everything give thanks” (I Thess. 5:18).
“Rejoice
evermore” (I Thess. 5:16).
“Pray
without ceasing” (I Thess. 5:17).
“Whatsoever
thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might” (Ecc. 9:10).
“I
will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth
all thy marvellous works. I will be
glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou
most High” (Psalm 9:1-2).
Let these words
be your meditation as you learn to respond, not as a worried, fretting
creature, but as the King’s daughter, all glorious within!
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