Sunday we continued in week-46 of our series, The Gospel. If you missed week-46, we encourage you to catch up on Facebook now.
On Sunday we looked at Jesus’ teaching about anxiety as recorded in Luke 12:22-34. In 14 short verses, Jesus tells us not to be anxious (v22), not to worry (v29), and to fear not (v32). All of these teachings from Jesus are founded upon these simple truths: God loves us, values us, and will care for and provide for us.
As I challenged you on Sunday, I want to remind you again: Worry, anxiety, and fear are destructive. As noted by one commentator, the English word worry comes from the Anglo-Saxon word that means “to strangle.” Isn’t that exactly what worry does? It strangles us, steals from us, and distorts the world around us. The late Corrie Ten Boom once remarked: “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”
It isn’t like worry and anxiety don’t do anything, they just don’t do anything good. Besides the very real physical and emotional harm these things cause, they also steal our joy, rob us of our peace, and leave us desperate for contentment.
In Philippians 4:11-13, we find this incredible truth from the Apostle Paul: Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Two things stand out that I find inextricably tied to finding peace and contentment. First, Paul had learned to be content in any and every situation. This was learned in the midst of every situation he faced as he followed and served Jesus. The secret to his contentment must be the same secret we learn: Paul could do all things through Christ who strengthened him. In its original sense, Paul had learned that no matter what he faced, where life found him, or what trials and tribulations arose, Christ was faithful to strengthen him. Strengthens denotes an ongoing process that did not end until Paul left this life for eternity.
If I’m being honest, my default position is to worry. I, like Paul once did before me, am learning how to be truly content. I am learning that no matter what I face or where I face it, that Christ Himself cares for me, knows my struggle, and will give me the strength and grace I need. Instead of worrying, stressing, and becoming consumed with fear, I should turn to God in worship and prayer, remember His promises and faithfulness, and simply place my anxiety at His feet.
As we close out our time in this devotion, I want to challenge you to not only give your worries and anxiety to Jesus, but leave them with Him. So often we cast our anxieties on Him only to just as quickly pick them back up and take them with us. Remember the promise of Christ in John 16:33: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV)
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