BIBLE PASSAGE:
Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell
you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat;
or about your body, what you will wear.”
(Luke 12:22)
MEDITATION:
Many people struggle with overcoming the battle of worry and/or fear.
When they see a problem, they want to take it into their own hands
and solve it immediately. We live in a world that encourages impatience
so developing the characteristic of patience is difficult for many.
In this passage, Jesus is encouraging His disciples (which includes
Christians today) to not worry, but to put their faith in Him. He
says neither our life nor our body should be of concern to us, but
what is important is that we place our total confidence and faith in Him.
The disciples all made a major decision to follow Jesus. They traded
their worldly professions and securities for what many would have
seen as an unknown future. At this point in their life, there was a man
named Jesus (claiming to be the Son of God) who encouraged them to
leave their old life and follow Him.
Can you identify with this? I think we all can. Whatever place we find
ourselves in life, Jesus is saying to us, “Follow Me”. He told the disciples
that their Heavenly Father knows when a sparrow falls, and that He
knows and cares about them even more than He does the sparrow.
Jesus constantly taught His disciples that God has the provisions and
everything we need. He encourages us to refocus our priorities from
self-reliance to full dependence on Him (God wants our dependence,
not our independence).
When our life, our faith, and our priorities truly rest with Jesus,
then and only then, will we be able to look at the unknown and
have total peace and confidence that we not only belong to Jesus,
but that He will lead us to where He wants us to be.
None of us enjoy the unknown or unexpected, but the Lord encourages
us to take our anxieties and give them to Him, and learn to trust Him
with them. We should be thankful that God cares enough for us to take
care of our needs. It is not only okay to ask God for help, but we are
encouraged to do so.
ACTION:
Have you been spending too much time with anxiety and worry?
Too often we spend time worrying about how others perceive us,
when we should be concerned about how they view Jesus when
they see us. When He is our first priority, our lives change
dramatically.
It doesn’t mean we isolate ourselves, but that we carry Jesus and
include Him in our daily living. And when we adapt to this way
of living, our worries and anxieties decrease, which of course
means our joy and happiness increase. Why? Because we recognize
His power and become more dependent on Him. It is similar to the
way children worry less because they depend on their parents.
In addition, we discover that our lives are enriched by other changes
of our focus. For instance, instead of finding fault with others, we
look for, and recognize the good in them. Instead of putting others
down, we discover the enjoyment of encouraging them. We welcome
opportunities to lift the spirits of the downhearted.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, help me to become as a child who has
total confidence in You, so that I can grow and become the
person You have called me to be. Teach me to replace
question marks with periods and fully trust You in all
things. You know my tendencies to be anxious and worry,
and You know how to help me overcome them. Thank You
for how You take care of me on a daily basis. You provide
me with the necessities of life, and You enrich my life
through Your blessings that I don’t deserve.”
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