Tag Archives: Worry

Day 16: Complicating Things

Lamentations 3:52-57 :

They have chased me relentlessly like a bird,
those who are my enemies without cause.
They have cut off my life in the dungeon,
and have cast a stone on me.
Waters flowed over my head.
I said, “I am cut off.”

I called on your name, Yahweh,
out of the lowest dungeon.
You heard my voice:
“Don’t hide your ear from my sighing,
and my cry.”

You came near in the day that I called on you.
You said, “Don’t be afraid.”

As I read this passage again, I realized that enemies of Israel walk a very thin line. There’s only one good reason to be Israel’s enemy, and that’s if the God of Israel tells you that you must. Any other reason is not a good one. This passage tells us that Israel had “enemies without cause.” That tells me that they were attacking Israel for their own reasons without regard to God’s will. I’ve talked about this quite a bit as we have read the prophesies against Israel’s enemies, but it is very revealing that God tells us that they were taking advantage of God’s will to do their own, rather than simply being obedient to God in the matter. That’s something that we should also avoid. Our flesh can deceive us and make us think because something is good to do, that we are doing it for the right reasons. Even when we do something good, we must continue to rely on God’s power to do those things, otherwise we may fail to actually be doing those things with the right attitude.

The most wonderful thing about this passage is the fact that God was listening to the cry of His people. It clearly says here that “You came near in the day that I called on you.” Obviously, God wasn’t ignoring His people as was written just a few lines earlier. It just felt that way.

One of the most common messages that God brings to man is repeated here. It is: “Don’t be afraid.” Rarely a day goes by that I’m not afraid of something. The fact that God says this to us so often, tells me that fear is a serious problem for all of us. That’s one of the interesting things about sheep. They are pretty easily spooked. We are like sheep to God and He kindly reminds us to not be afraid, even after we have done wrong. In a sense, Lamentations has been an expression of fear that culminates in this wonderful three words. When we worry, we can really make life complicated but God shows us that the way forward is to simply keep trusting in Him.

Day 46: Test Question

John 6:1-7 : After these things, Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee, which is also called the Sea of Tiberias. A great multitude followed him, because they saw his signs which he did on those who were sick. Jesus went up into the mountain, and he sat there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Jesus therefore lifting up his eyes, and seeing that a great multitude was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?” This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that everyone of them may receive a little.”

Fear is blinding. When we start focusing on our fears, it becomes nearly impossible to be objective and reasonable. Food is the physical issue in this passage. Last time we talked about food it was when the Samaritan crowd was about to interfere with the disciples eating plans. As before, the solution was to focus on higher, more important things to God. Jesus has several things to say about food and working for it making it a significant theme in the book of John.

Here, Jesus gives Philip a test question. He asks where they should buy bread to feed the crowd. It was a leading question. Jesus didn’t intend to buy anything. Think about this for a moment. The crowd was following Jesus because of His miraculous power. Evidently, Philip and the other disciples were getting their focus off of Jesus and His obvious ability to do anything at any time.

Sometimes, as God’s servants in our work, families and at church, we can get our mental focus shifted off of the spiritual and onto the physical things that surround the spiritual activity. We need test questions like this to show us where we stand right now. It isn’t recorded that Jesus scolded Philip for his answer. Jesus was going to give a real-life example by performing a food miracle. Later, in acts, Philip becomes an amazing example of a tool of God with which He could do any miraculous thing He wanted. But today, Philip was in discipleship school.

In my flesh, I am a man like Philip, I can see how he should have answered, however. He should have said something like: “Jesus, You know we don’t have enough money or time to go into town and buy all the bread we need. Tell me what you want me to do and I will do it.” Unfortunately, I have said the same kind of thing Philip said in my anxious moments recently. I am very thankful that Jesus took the time to make it clear that a focus on money and resources is not the way to live life as a Christian. I know that we are responsible for finances, but we should trust that God will provide what we need Him when He asks us to serve Him.

Day 45
Day 47