Monday, February 6, 2012

WE CAN TRUST IN GOD, OR WORRY, BE ANXIOUS, AND FEARFUL: THE CHOICE IS OURS

By Pastor Bruce Oyen

      Life can be filled with joy and pleasure. But it can also be filled with trials and tribulations, sometimes caused by problems with our health, money, marriage, and family. These things have the potential to fill us with worry, anxiety, and fear.     
     While it is normal and good for us to be concerned when we are in the middle of trials and tribulations, our worry, anxiety and fear make matters worse. Much worse. We need to understand that in every difficulty, we have a choice to make. The choice is this: will we worry, be anxious, and fearful? Or, will we trust in the goodness, wisdom, power, and love of God? In other words, will we try to do something we cannot do: manage life ourselves? Or, will we let God do so?
     The problems we do have are not the only potential source of worry, anxiety, and fear. The fact that most of life is out of our control can contribute to these three things.  Consider some examples of the fact that our ability to manage life is limited: We can eat right, and get exercise. But we might have a heart attack. We can stay out of debt. But we might lose our income in a bad economy. We can raise our kids for the Lord. But they might choose to go the way of the world. We can be careful drivers. But someone might run into our car and cause us serious injury.
     Yes, our control of life is very limited. And this fact is a major source of our worry, anxiety, and fear. And when we add our lack of control to any problems we might have, the mix can be disastrous. Therefore, the wise choice is to trust in the goodness, wisdom, power, and love of God.
     I still struggle with making the wise choice. Perhaps I am a slow learner. Each new difficulty presents a challenge to make the wise choice, or the wrong one. Here are some Bible verses that have helped me along life's pathway. They are from The New King James Version.
Psalm 56:3, 4 and 11
3 Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.
4 In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?
11 In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
Psalm 91:1, 2
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
Psalm 121 (entire Psalm)
I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
Philippians 4:6, 7
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
   These Bible quotes were obtained from this website: http://www.biblegateway.com/. This is a great resource for many Bible translations, old and new.
    Perhaps you have worry, anxiety, and fear about whether or not you will make it to heaven. If you want to learn how to make sure your sins are forgiven and that you are at peace with God, please click on the following link so that you can read an excellent Gospel message. This message has helped many thousands of persons around the world come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. Here is the link to it:
http://www.godssimpleplan.org/gsps-english.html


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