How many days have you spent with fear, dread or anxiety? I’ve come to the conclusion that some level of one of those negative forces haunts me for a portion of nearly every day. It could be something as small as a moment of worry about the welfare of my wife – where is she? Is she okay? How is her injured leg doing today? Sometimes my anxiety occurs as a focused flash of worry over the futures of my children – who will Alicia marry? What will Landon do with his life? Are they safe from predators today? I wish it were not so but I can recall a time period a few years ago when I had trouble falling asleep due to my inability to have confidence about the security of the ministry God had entrusted to me. I forfeited a few months of internal peace as I was knotted up over the outcome of things outside of my control. I know that I’m not alone in this occasional battle with anxiety but I want to be completely free from it rather than taking comfort that it’s a common struggle. In typical, no-nonsense John MacArthur fashion, he wrote in his commentary on Matthew, “Worry is the sin of distrusting the promise and providence of God, and yet it is a sin that Christians commit perhaps more frequently than any other.” And there we have it: worry is sin.
“I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.” – Jeremiah 5:22 {ESV}
God told Jeremiah that He was sovereign in nature so that the massive, roaring, churning sea had no ability to pass its God-ordained boundary without His permission. Deep, dark, murky, mysterious and incredibly powerful, the oceans must receive authorization from God before they can break rank. I find comfort in His words to the weeping prophet because God does not say that there is nothing intimidating about the waves; their tossing and roaring can be experienced by the senses and a wise individual will recognize his own smallness before the great force of a tempestuous sea. Still, God does not want us to keep our eyes on the oceans, worrying and troubled that at some unknown moment a tsunami might be produced which would wash us away into oblivion. Equally so are the forces at work in our world today which threaten to undo us. If we choose we might fret over our jobs, our health, our marriage, our children, our past failures, our delayed successes, our single-hood, our ministries…or just our overall security in an upside-down world. Yet look at what God says to Jeremiah about the sea and apply it to the forces that might intimidate you: though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it. God wants you and I to become skilled at looking at the Keeper of the waves rather than the breakers themselves. What has more of our attention: earth’s calamities or Heaven’s King?
Let us spend today thinking upon the truth of God’s love-fueled commitment to us. Most of the things I have ever been anxious over have never come to pass. Charles Spurgeon said once that anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength. This is the only Monday that God will give you this week – why squander it in worry? If something must occupy my mind for the next 24 hours I think it would serve me better to remember that the sea will always roar but my Savior proved again that He is Master when He one day, long ago, strolled across those stormy waters. He’s standing atop your own churning situation also. His feet are above the floods you fear. Jesus Christ, your Lord, didn’t think twice about walking upon the waves. If you can be still and silent for a bit, asking Him to speak to you today, asking Him to refuse the waters their prevailing then you will find once again that everything that is above your head is beneath His feet.
That’s enough for me to live out this day in quiet confidence as a little sheep beside its Shepherd. Would you care to join us?
Thank you for being honest in that you have the same weaknesses that most of us do. Worry, or what my bible calls anxiety, has a stronghold on many of us and is a sin. Here are a couple of verses that apply to what the Lord has been teaching me recently with which He has showed me His complete faithfulness and love. Phil. 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of
God, which surpasses all understanding, shall guard your minds and your hearts in Christ Jesus.”
My apology for typo on previous comment. Last line “with” should be “will’.
Another Hymn of years gone by: ‘Master, the Tempest Is Raging’. 2nd verse,
‘Master, with anguish of spirit I bow in my grief today, The depths of my sad heart are troubled. Oh, waken and save, I pray! Torrents of sin and of anguish Sweep o’er my sinking soul! And I perish, I perish dear Master, Oh, hasten, and take control’ Again the chorus sums it all up: ‘The winds and the waves shall obey My will. Peace be still. Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea, Or demons, or men, or whatever it be, No water can swallow the ship where lies the Master of ocean and earth and skies. They all shall sweetly obey My will; Peace, be still, Peace be still. They all shall sweetly obey My will, Peace, peace be still.’
Pastor Jeff: Your blog has reminded me of a Hymn from years ago.
‘Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus’.3rd verse:’His word shall not fail you-He promised. Believe Him, and all will be well, Then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell’. But the chorus sums it all up: ‘Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace.’
My prayer would be that these words with strengthen you.
Isaiah 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.
Philippians 4:6/7
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
The Christian who is at peace shows he has something the world just CANNOT understand!
It doesn’t change the circumstance, just the perspective.
May you know His peace today, brother
Your timing is perfect, Jeff. I’m sending this to your Uncle Mike today because I know he is worried, even scared, about his upcoming surgery. He doesn’t have Internet access so I’m mailing the text to him and asking the Lord to quieten his heart and mind.