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A Place of Faith with Pastor
A PLACE OF FAITH
Dealing with Worry in Uncertain times
by Pastor Bode Akindele
orry — simply described. Worry means to be occupied W with the problems of this life. The things that worry us are often obvious global problems.
To say that the whole world is charting through uncertain territories right now, because of the COVID-19 pandemic would be an accurate statement, and the attending anxiety is to be expected. Many individuals and families are faced with unusual situations that they do not know how to handle — ranging from health to finances, and marriage challenges.
The governments of the world are also currently perplexed due to the mutation of the corona virus, producing variants that keep challenging the effectiveness of the vaccines, which themselves are still under trial! Frequent lockdowns make business unpredictable, while global connectivity explains the agitation of leaders of various nations.
Dangers of Worry
Statistics has shown that there are many people in the hospital because of stress that resulted from their worries about their families, health, or businesses. Notice the following three things: • Worry chokes your faith. What worry does is to make you lose that confidence and assurance — it makes you lose the hope of any possibilities coming out of negative situations that you are faced with! It suddenly seems like it is never possible to experience breakthrough in that difficult situation. Worry makes you give up your faith too soon. Heb. 11:1(NIV) says, ‘Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see’. • Worry prevents you from being a blessing to others. • Worry takes you away from the feet of Jesus. Consider the example of Martha in Luke 10:38 – 42.
Jesus said in verse 42, ‘Martha,
Martha, you are worried and upset about many things’ — instead of sitting at the feet of Jesus to build her faith like Mary chose to do.
No wonder when their brother Lazarus died, the responses of Mary to Jesus’s statements were more of faith than that of Martha (Jn. 11:17 – 44).
What does God say we should do?
God says clearly that we should not worry about anything. Rather, He says we should rejoice; and He went ahead to say it again, REJOICE! (Phil 4:4 – 7). I know that it does not make sense to expect you to rejoice in the face of troubles and it might even be exceedingly difficult to do so. However, let us closely consider the instruction God gives us to follow in the face of potential worries: • Rejoice in the Lord, always. Make this a foundation for your daily attitude, no matter what comes against you. Let the fact that you belong to the Lord anchor your soul even in turmoil. • Be careful about nothing — Do not be anxious about anything, no matter what it is. • Engage in prayer and supplication at all times and about everything. • Maintain the heart of thanksgiving while still in the situation. • God promises us (verse 7) that when we do these four things,
His peace that passes all understanding will garrison our hearts.
Consider the following points: • If you do not spend time to pray about issues, and to pray aright, you will keep worrying! • If you do not understand God’s promises to you about those situations, you will worry! • If your trust is in yourself or another man, you will worry! See what God says in Jer. 17: 5-8,
‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the one who trusts the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.’
What then should we do?
• Commit your ways into God’s hands and trust Him completely. Ps. 37:5-6 (NIV) says, ‘Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun’. I like it in Message version, ‘Open up before God, keep nothing back; he’ll do whatever needs to be done’. You can trust that God means what He said in this verse. Matt 7:7 says in message version ‘Don’t bargain with
God. Be direct. Ask what you need’.
He will do all that is needed. • Meditate (positively think deeply) on His promises about your situations. Jn. 15:7 says, ‘If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and
it shall be done for you’. When fear and confusions confront you, you need to remind yourself of God’s promises, and keep meditating on it. This way, your faith remains strong and unfailing. • Cultivate the habit of declaring
God’s word about your situation.
II Cor. 4:13 says, ‘We are having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;’. We are to keep speaking what we believe about our situations, until we see the manifestation we desire. • Always deliberately give God all your worries when they show up.
I Peter 5:7 (GNT) says, ‘Leave all your worries with him, because he cares for you’. Amplified version presents the same scripture more elaborately; ‘Casting the whole of your care (all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all) on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully’. See again in the amplified bible what the psalmist says about this in Ps. 55:22; ‘Cast your burden on the Lord (releasing the weight of it) and He will sustain you; He will never allow the (consistently) righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail)’. Beloved, you can believe God to be true to these scriptures. • Live one day at a time. Many times, what we worry about is futuristic, and most of the time it is because we cannot predict for sure how things will turn. Meanwhile, many of those negative assumptions we have do not even end up happening when that future comes! Rather, concern yourself with the issue of today; live one day at a time, and you would have drastically reduced if not eliminated worry from your life. Let us consider what Matthew 6:34 says; ‘take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof’.
What would you do now?
You can trust God to see you through every situation, no matter how difficult. If the entire world would look unto God now, He will deliver us from every plague. That is why I would advise you to personally place your life, your total hope, on the Lord. You can pray about your challenges now, yes, right now, and I am sure God is faithful, merciful, and just to answer you. Rom 10:13 says, ‘for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ Jn. 6:37 (NIV) says, ‘… whoever comes to me I will never drive away.’ Instead of worrying about your troubles, go ahead and pray to God about them. That is the way.
I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior many years ago, and so I usually have confidence to approach God as my father, for solutions, when different life issues confront me. You should do the same today. Jesus is waiting to receive you. Rom. 10:9-10 (NLT) says, ‘If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved’. I encourage you to take that step today, now, do as this scripture say and your new life in God begins.
If you prayed this prayer, or you have questions you need answers, feel free to email. God bless you.
