Freedom from worry

As we are mid way through 2020 and the weather is heating up, mother nature was giving free lessons at the local lake I was fishing on once again. I noticed a mallard duck hen seemingly and effortlessly change her tone of quack as I approached the area she was in. One by one the baby ducklings emerged from their hideaways around the cattails and grass close to the shore and headed towards the security of the one voice they knew and had assurance in. I thought to myself, mother duck is doing what is natural and God given as she adapts and stays the course taking on the events of this new day without a worry. She did not show up emotional to her crisis, she pivoted with a purpose and got on with the day. It got me to thinking about the action of worrying and what it actually means. All worry is about is a control issue. Who is really in control? Worry is nothing more than trying to control what we cannot control, or trying to control the uncontrollable. Worry is a warning light that we have not put God in control. Worrying means getting ourselves “out of joint” mentally or spiritually. It is one thing to say, “Do not worry, but something very different to have such a nature that we find ourselves unable to worry. My bible tells me in Psalms 37: 7 to rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. The key word here is “wait”. I used to think wait meant to be still, but have learned “waiting makes me a waiter and a waiter makes me a servant of the Lord. How to serve is with patience and rest. In this day and time it is every so much more important know this, Unfortunately until our own little world may be turned upside down and we are forced to live in confusion and chaos like so many other people. Worrying is our premeditated and simple determination to have our own way. I cannot find in my Bible where Jesus ever worried and was never anxious, because His purpose was never to accomplish His own plans but to fulfill God’s plans. So Is it possible to “rest in the Lord? Have we been thinking that our circumstances are too much for God to handle? We must set all of our opinions and emotions filled anxiety aside and do what the Bible tells us to do in Psalm 91, He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. We must deliberately tell God that we will not worry about whatever concerns us. All of our constant and consuming worrying is caused by our thinking and planning without God. Resting in the Lord is not dependent on our external circumstances at all, but on our relationship with God Himself. If you are running your own life without having God in control you should worry. Because there are things in your life that you will never control.

But if God is running your life and He is the Lord of your life, you should not worry. The Lord is your Shepherd. What you should do is start praying about the things you have been worrying about. It is a fact that If we prayed about the things we worried about we would have a lot less time to worry. Worry does not change things, prayer does.

I remember Papa had his way with words in rhyming fashion, he would say Jon Mark, worry is stewing without doing. Prayer puts you in contact with Jesus. the One who can change the things you cannot. Whenever a problem arises you have two options, You can panic or you can pray. But the one thing that you must know son, if Jesus is Lord of your life, when will you put Him in control? If Jesus is not calling the shots in your life, He is not your Lord. If He is not Lord in your life, He is not your shepherd. Because Lord means Shepherd. Papa always had a way of getting to the point quickly. In John chapter 10 Jesus says that three things happen when you make Jesus your Shepherd. You hear His voice, you have a relationship with Him, and you follow Him. In other words we put Him in control. Just like mother duck and her ducklings so to speak. 1 Peter 5:7 says, Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. Another interesting Bible fact is the word “cast” is mentioned in my Bible 632 instances, and that got my attention to research further. Cast means to unload. Let go. The Greek word literally means to drop. Unload it. Earlier this morning when I first looked at this verse I though it said to throw my worries away. That is not what this verse says. It says I am to unload it. But notice where I unload it. “On Him”. We place all of our cares and worries on Him, because He cares about me. It does not mean that our worries go away, what this means is that we give them to Jesus and He takes care of them. Overcoming worry is a day by day choice. There is no pill, drink, shot or smoke we can take to stop worrying. There is no seminar, book or tape that will make you stop worrying. Jesus and Jesus alone is the antidote for worry. The key is to put Him in control of our life. In closing, I invite you to take the first step by opening up your life to Jesus Christ if you have never done so. Ask Him to become your Lord, your shepherd and your heavenly Father. I do not know what you are worried about today, but I do know this, God loves you and He cares about the stress and worry in your life. Ask Jesus to be your shepherd. If you have never accepted Jesus as your Lord. A simple prayer is the start to stopping worry, Tell Jesus I do not understand it all, but I have come today to put you in charge of my life. I want you to be my shepherd, I want to know You. I want to listen to You. I want to follow you. I want you in control of my life. Come into my life and take control. Amen.

When you put your faith and trust in God, He works miracles. Make it a great day for yourself and someone else as we live to love and share Jesus with others.

Psalms 55:22

Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

1 Peter 5:7

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.