Saturday, February 05, 2011

Choose Faith and Acknowledge God's Control
by Tom Holladay

“Everything in the heavens and earth is yours, O Lord … we adore you as being in control of everything.” 1 Chronicles 29:11 (LB)

"Why do we worry? Because we try to do what only God can do. We try to control the uncontrollable, explain the unexplainable, do the undoable, stop the unstoppable, fix the unfixable, bear the unbearable; and then we wonder why we are messed up."

When Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves in Matthew 8 the disciples were amazed and asked each other, “Who is this that even the winds and the sea obey him?” (Matthew 8:27 LB).

In that moment, they acknowledged God’s control. They realized there was no reason to worry because the God who commands galaxies with a word and holds molecules together with his power was right there in their boat.

Why do we worry? Because we try to do what only God can do. We try to control the uncontrollable, explain the unexplainable, do the undoable, stop the unstoppable, fix the unfixable, bear the unbearable; and then we wonder why we are messed up.

Only God is in control. That may leave you wondering, “If God is in control, why doesn’t he change this, or do that, or make this thing better?” Honestly, I don’t know. But I do know that I trust him. And I have found time and again that he is trustworthy. This world is not all there is. There is an eternity to come where everything will be made right and just.

God has allowed evil for a time, but it will not be forever. So I’m going to put my trust in him because he is the only one in control.

In the meantime, what should you do? Jesus says, “Don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow, too. Live one day at a time” (Matthew 6:34 LB).

This doesn’t mean you don’t plan for the future. You should continue to set goals; in fact the Bible says it’s wise to set goals. But once you set those goals that might guide your direction, then you live one day at a time. If you decide to worry about what is going to happen tomorrow, you’ll miss out on what God wants you to do today.

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Choose Faith and Ask for Help by Rick Warren

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Philippians 4:6 (NLT) When faced with the reality of a situation that is overwhelming, the best thing you can do is focus on God. The disciples, in Matthew 8, knew that Jesus could do something about the storm that threatened their lives as they were tossed on the sea. Their answer to the overwhelming storm was to ask Jesus for help. “The disciples went to him and they woke him up, shouting, ‘Lord save us, we are going to drown” (Matthew 8:25 NLT). Why is it that we wait until it gets really bad before we think we have to pray? One of the keys to dealing with anxiety is to cry for help earlier because God wants to help. Instead of trying to live life on your own and let the worry overwhelm you, turn to God. He wants you to live life connected to him, talking to him, and getting connected with others because when you try to do it on our own and never ask for help, worries just multiply. Maybe it’s hard for you to admit your needs. Maybe you think no one cares. Maybe you’re convinced you know the answer and no one else does. I think a lot of people don’t ask for help because they don’t want to be a bother to anyone. It does not bother God when you ask for help. He stands ready to help you in every moment of life. “Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done” (Philippians 4:6 NLT). Talking to God in prayer is the single most effective cure for worry, and it needs to be the attitude of your life. Our verse today gives us the formula for how this works. “Pray about everything.” First, you talk. As you talk to God about everything, you will find the anxiety level lessening in your life. “Tell God what you need.” That’s the second thing. A lot of times people go to God in prayer and tell God about everything and everyone else, but don’t share their needs with him. Tell him what you are worried about! “Thank him for all he has done.” There is something about gratitude that lessens anxiety and opens the door to peace and incredible faith in your life. No matter what you’re going through in life right now, there is something you can look back on and say, “God, I’m grateful for that.” So hang on to that.

Face Reality, Then Choose Faith

“Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly a terrible storm came up, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.” Matthew 8:23-24 (NLT)

"The question is how can we keep from worrying when life is overwhelming and it feels like God is slow in answering?"

If you are going to deal with worry and anxiety, the first thing you have to do is face reality.

In Matthew 8, we see the reality of the situation that Jesus and the disciples faced. What they went through shows us the reality of what we have to face when life doesn’t go the way we plan.

They faced a sudden storm. This is a picture for us of unexpected problems. We often don’t know what direction a problem is going to come from or where we will be when it hits.
If you build your life around the belief that you’ll be okay this year as long as nothing goes wrong, you’re going to lose. Because something will always go wrong.
They faced waves. Waves in our life are overwhelming circumstances. For the disciples, the waves in the midst of the storm were higher than their boat. They had overwhelming circumstances. And the same thing happens to us. A storm hits our life and the circumstances of it leave us wondering, “How am I going to face that?”
They had a boat. This is a picture for us of inadequate resources. The boat wasn’t big enough to hold the waves that were coming. We face the same situation.
If only we had all the money in the world, then everything would be fine. But we don’t. If only we had all the time in the world, then everything would be fine. But we don’t. That’s just reality, and saying anything else is a lie.
Jesus was asleep in the boat. Here were the disciples in the midst of a storm and almost ready to drown, and Jesus, the one they knew could make a difference, was asleep.
This is a picture of how many of us feel when we are facing a genuine problem in life. We don’t know what to do or where to turn, and we know God knows what we’re going through. The worse it gets, the more we wonder, “God, where are you in all of this? Why don’t you do something to change the situation?”
The question is how can we keep from worrying when life is overwhelming and it feels like God is slow in answering?
Anxiety wears you out and it shortens your life, but if you have no other answers, you are going to keep worrying. Many people think the answer to worry is to somehow pretend that there is nothing to worry about. But the only way to deal with worry effectively is to face reality and then choose to face reality with faith.

Today’s devotional is by Tom Holladay, teaching pastor at Saddleback Church and author of ‘The Relationship Principles of Jesus.’