CONFIDENT FAITH
Luke 12:22–34
Isn’t it amazing how a wonderful day, free from worry or anxiety, can be interrupted by the smallest of inconveniences? Take for example your vehicle.
The last thing on your mind is a mechanical issue, but then the “service engine soon” light makes a dreaded and unwelcome appearance. Thoughts such as, “What is wrong?” “Is it safe to keep driving?” and “How much is this going to cost me?” all can invade your thoughts while facing the unknown. Another possibility while driving is severe weather.
Suddenly the annoying noise of a weather alert pierces your ears. The fear of injury or worse is enough to make many panic.
Does worry have to be a way of life? There are many things in this world that should cause us concern, but that is not synonymous with worry.
A heart and mind that is perpetually overwhelmed with worry has gotten off course from a maturing faith in Christ. If we allow the enemy to conquer our minds, he can compromise our mission.
Worry doesn’t solve anything. (22–26)
If you wrestle with worry, you do not need any more clichés from those who do not. However, if I may, I will offer you some truth that has aided me when I have been in the trap of worry. We cannot worry and worship at the same time. When it comes to worry, I use the terms “trap” and “battle” because it is not something that is easily overcome.
When we choose to worship, we are making the eternal and the spiritual our focus. On the other hand, when we choose to worry, we are allowing the temporal and the worldly to win the moment.
The struggle can even be debilitating. I can assure you that 100 years from now, whatever you are worrying about today will be forgotten and irrelevant. We must strive to live with eternity in mind.
God knows what we need. (27–30)
God has never failed us and He never will. Every single need you and I have faced, God has met. Although beautiful, flowers have no lasting value. Jesus wants His children to understand that if His provision can be so intricately involved as to reach the grass and flowers of the field, how much more does He care for us?
Take a moment and reflect around you. Even with your physical eyes, God’s blessings are too many for us to count or remember. Go beyond what your eyes can behold and contemplate His sufficiency in meeting all your spiritual needs and most importantly, the gift of eternal salvation. He can be trusted no matter what.
God will take care of us as we seek the Kingdom of God. (31–34)
In life, you will usually land where you look. If you are constantly bogged down by worry, it is because you exchanged a Kingdom focus for an earthly one.
Do not buy into the illusion that you can control situations or outcomes. Only when I am fully living for God do I reap the benefits of being aware that God is sovereign. Worry comes from seeking to be greater than we are.
Worrying will never change the outcome, but it will rob you of your present joy. Get to work for God, and you will see His benevolent hand in your life.
By Bobby McKay
Pastor of New Liberty Baptist Church in Morton, Mississippi
