If our worries were the end of the problem, they would not be so difficult to handle. However, worries by their very nature agitate our souls until we alleviate them. The decisions that we make to solve our worries are always bad. In the end they cause so much extra pain. They put us on a downward path that eventually leads to more worry and further bad decisions.
 You might wonder the reason for this.
Every time we feel ultimately responsible to take care of some certain need of our lives, we have at the same time excluded God from that area of our lives. Because we are not trusting Him for help, care, strength and provision, we sense a need to solve the problem on our own. Because of our doubt and unbelief, our decisions will be not consistent with God's Word and way. For example, many people lie because they are anxious about what would happen if they said the truth. God is not happy with lies. Those very lies will lead that person into worse troubles ahead.
The alternative is to trust His judgment and decisions. If we went by the teaching of the scriptures, even if we didn't fully understand or agree with them, we would be greatly protected.
One might not see the effect of these bad decisions right away, but they pile up. Soon one finds himself devastated because of the overwhelming number of his worries. The only good decision is "casting all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).
Let's look at another specific example.
If a person is worried about not finding a life partner, he or she might make a bad decision on what to do when confronted with improper advances. Or, in a different circumstance, might go into debt for a body make-up.
- A guy might be worried about not having a girlfriend. He is getting old or perhaps he feels he is missing out on some fun.
- He wrongly concludes that he doesn't party enough.
- He starts drinking and socializing with the wrong group.
- He gets a girlfriend but falls into sexual sins.
We will only have two choices here. We would hope there would be many in between but there are not. Our choice and their decisions are based on whether we are going to trust in ourselves or in God.
Worry > Self-care > bad decisions
Trust > God-care > good decisions
Were you ever in the place where you only had bad decisions to make? This is the ‘basket case’ for those who allow worries to dominate them. They tried to solve these things on their own, but the more they did so, the more the difficulties piled up.
Worries, like fears, are aggressive by nature. They will take and occupy whatever room is available. We need to reject the claim of worries upon our hearts and thoughts. You might be in this situation today. I would like to read three passages from the Word of God. Listen quietly and reflect on the things that you worry about. Have you responded to these decisions by bad decisions to fulfill their apparent need? Did you go against God's Word? Did you deceive others? Were you selfish?
"Thus God has said, 'Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD and do not prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has also forsaken you.'" (2 Chronicles 24:20).
"Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; For emptiness will be his reward." (Job 15:31).
",,, Put your trust in the LORD your God, and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed." (2 Chronicles 20:20).
"An arrogant man stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper." (Proverbs 28:25).
We can start making excuses for circumstances and ourselves, but there are none. We will take a look at the darkest and most unfair incident that ever happened on planet earth. Someone once questioned whether Jesus was anxious when He faced that night at Gethsemane. Did He worry or not?
We have two subtle questions here. Firstly, we wonder if all worry is wrong. If Jesus worried, then certainly not all worry is wrong. Secondly, we have so often failed in the most rigorous times of testing. We want to see how Jesus withstood such a powerful onslaught of testing.
Let us take a closer look. Next page
|
