Today’s chapter for small groups from the book Calm My Anxious Heart was really, really good! It was a perfect reminder that it is my job to trust the Lord and not worry about tomorrow. Here’s some of the key things that really encouraged and challenged me tonight.
“Did you know there are spiritual diseases? Two of the deadliest are the “if” diseases, What if and If Only. These illnesses are fraternal twins, alike but not alike. Both lack the eyes of faith What if looks to the future and worries about what God might allow. If Only looks to the past and grumbles about what God has given. The first leads to anxiety, the second to anger.” (p. 157)
The anxiety of the “unknown” can be torture. Why? “Perhaps because waiting for an inevitable disaster is worse that the disaster itself.” (p. 158)
Jeremiah 17:5-8, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.’”
“These verses present us with a contrast between a man who trusts in himself and another who not only trusts in the Lord but also make the Lord his total trust. […] Instead of giving our anxious hearts to God, we handle the uncertainty of the What Ifs of life by employing one of the control tactics mentioned above and we ‘help God out.’ Waiting is too hard, too painful, and God just works way too slow.” (p. 159)
“When What Ifs come into our lives, we must ask ourselves if we’re going to judge God by the circumstances we don’t understand or judge the circumstances in light of the character of God.” (p. 160)
“Isaiah 41:10 declares, ‘So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.’ We can only trust God when our focus is on Him and not on our circumstances.” (p. 160)
Psalm 112:7 says, “He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” “Only as our hearts ore fixed on our Sovereign, loving Lord can we be at peace in the midst of What Ifs.”
“Perhaps you have read these verses or even memorized them. But let me ask you, do you really trust God? This question has two possible meanings. The first is ‘Can you trust God?’ Is He dependable in times of adversity? But the second meaning is also critical: ‘Can you trust God?’ Do you have such a relationship with God and such a confidence in Him that you believe He is with you in your anxiety, even though you don’t see any evident of His presence and His power? […] Remember: Contentment comes from a proper relationship to God, not from a response to circumstances. Our What Ifs will either drvie us to God and faith or they will drive us to worry and dependence on self. God gives peace and contentment; worry gives illness and misery.” (p. 161)
“Neither go back in fear and misgiving to the past, nor in anxiety and forecasting to the future, but lie quiet under His hand, having no will but His.” (162)
How do we work through the “What Ifs”? First, ask “What is my worst What If?” Then ask, “Can I trust God with my worst What If? Would God still be God, would He still be Sovereign? Would He still be Love and Goodness?” Then ask “God to give [you] strength to live today, just today, to leave the fears and worries of tomorrow with Him.” (p. 164)
What is the worst we can face as believers? Death. Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Serenity Prayer:
“God grant me the serenity to accept that which I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference, living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will, so that I may be reasonable happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next.” (p. 165)
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