BIBLE READING: PSALM 55:22; HOSEA 4:6; MATTHEW 6:25-34; 1 PETER 5:7
Give your burdens to The Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall. (Psalm 55:22) NLT
Give all your worries and cares to God for He cares about you. (1Peter 5:7) NLT
I found myself thinking about why we worry, even though I know Jesus Himself, as recorded in the Book of Matthew 6:25-34 talked a lot about the foolishness of worrying. The truth is we know worrying about an issue will not solve the problem and we know worrying shows a lack of faith, but we still find ourselves worrying about stuff sometimes. I know some will say, it is human nature to worry and I agree. But we are not ruled by human nature, we live by a higher standard and so, I had to take this question of worrying to God. I honestly wanted to find a way to stop worrying about issues of life.
I remember when I had to deal with “little white lies.” I felt in my spirit it was time to stop and so I took it to God and He explained why even though these lies seemed harmless, they were still lies and babies of the devil that will one day grow. He made me see how the enemy disguised things so I would think they were harmless. The more “white lies” I told, the more I would be feeding these babies and they will grow into adults. The Holy Spirit helped me then and is still helping me now, so I knew I could count on Him with this issue of WORRY.
There are so many scriptures in the Bible telling us about how to deal with worry and as I searched the scriptures to find more answers, everything seemed to point to one thing; the only way we can get rid of worry is to get to KNOW HIM WHO I CALL ABBA FATHER. As I pondered on this, I realised that getting to know Him and understanding the meaning of His covenant with us is the only way we can get rid of worry in our life. Of course, I know who God is and I love Him dearly, but the Holy Spirit made me realise that we need to go deeper in our relationship with Him and we need to get to a point where we do not have any doubts at all about His love for us. This is a life-long project and we will never know all we need to know about Him till we see Him face to face.
The Holy Spirit also made me realise, each new life challenge is an opportunity to deepen our knowledge of Who He is and is not another way to give the enemy a victory dance. With each new challenge, He gets the opportunity to prove Himself to us as a caring and faithful Father. We are meant to face every challenge with faith in our heart and say to Him, “Lord, this is another opportunity for me to see You as ABBA FATHER” not “O Lord, why is this happening to me?”
We call Him the Creator of everything seen and unseen, so why do we worry when we do not understand the things that are happening to us? Could it be because we do not fully understand Him as the Creator of everything seen and unseen? We call Him our Healer and have read in the Bible over and over all the healing miracles He performed while He was here on earth and still we panic and worry when we are faced with a health challenge. We call Him our Provider and we know He owns everything in the universe but still, we worry about how to pay the next bill that is coming our way. We call Him our Shield and Defender, yet we worry when the enemy raises his children against us. We call Him the same yesterday, today and forever, and yet we worry about what will happen to us in the future.
As the Holy Spirit continued to minister to me, I knew the problem indeed was a problem of depth of knowledge of who He is and my understanding of His covenant with me. The truth is we worry about things because we do not know what is going to happen or how we are going to handle a situation but if we truly understand our covenant with God then we should know immediately that we are not alone and our ABBA FATHER who sees and knows all things, will always make sure all things work together for our good.
What a revelation! The Holy Spirit leads us to all truth. He is the One that lights our path and if we genuinely go to Him for help, He will unravel mysteries to us. As I lay on my bed that evening, I asked for forgiveness from God and began to thank Him for the gift of the Holy Spirit Who leads us to all truth. The Bible says when we seek, we will find. I sought and found the reason why I sometimes worry. I have included this in my prayer points, asking for His help in the area of worry. I pray He will help us study our Bible more so we can get to know Him better and so our faith in Him will grow stronger. I am a work in progress in this area but I know I am not where I used to be.
We can only win over worry when we believe that a worry-free life is possible and call upon our God in this area of our life. Take a moment to think now…Where do you need help? Ask the Holy Spirit to help you….I promise you, He will.
- By Pastor Tinu Olashore