From The Sheep Pen

…in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;Titus 1:2

I woke up this morning to a flicker tapping on the roof like an annoying alarm clock. Then when I came downstairs and looked outside, it was snowing. Again. Another storm has moved in with leaden skies, cold, sleet and – more snow. Surely it’s time for spring to show up and show off, for the birds to come back and for the brave green shoots to open up their flowers. After all, it’s practically mid April. Easter is but six days away. There should be flowers blooming and birds singing.

Winter storms will eventually leave. Earth and sun will move closer together just as God ordains. It will become warm again for all seasons occur in due time. We may grumble about April snow but know that this too shall pass, eons upon eons. So we hope – let new spring life come quickly.

Beginning yesterday with Palm Sunday, this is Holy Week in the Christian Church. It is a week to reflect on the Gospels – what Jesus did, what Jesus said, what Jesus taught right up to the cross. The chronology of Jesus’ last week on earth is the core of Christianity’s religious celebrations this week. We remember and celebrate the last days of Jesus’ life as He resolutely moved from His triumphal entry into Jerusalem to Golgotha’s crucifixion and then to His resurrection on the third day.

Jesus’ resurrection is the central tenet of Christianity which separates our faith from every other because it offers the one thing that no other religion can. In Jesus alone, the fallen creation regains hope. Life does not end with death. Our hope is that because Christ lives, so shall all who believe in Him.

I believe we can’t fully grasp Jesus’ seismic impact on humanity. Jesus lived in a world and time of utter darkness. It was a world without light or hope. From Adam up to Jesus, fallen man was under the curse of death. For all millennia creation was as if in unending grey, dreary, lightless winter without any respite or hope of spring. Death was the end and nothing could change man’s returning to dust. And then came Jesus of whom John wrote:

In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.…John 1:3

As Jesus entered Jerusalem, the people mobbed Him desperately. God had been silent. There had been no Jewish prophet for over 400 years; no one was speaking for God or interceding for Israel until John the Baptist appeared. The Jews were brutalized and oppressed by Roman rule. Millions were volatile, dangerous and rebellious. They wanted a messiah to lead them out of their oppressive hopelessness and to wreak vengeance against Rome. They acclaimed Jesus to be that Messiah, addressing Him as son of David and shouting “hosannas” as He entered Jerusalem. Their false hope was that Jesus was their liberator. Instead, they rejected Jesus as Lord, as the hope of their salvation.

As you read the Gospels this week, put away our 21st century perspective for a few days and try to see the hopelessness of first century Jews and Romans and Gentiles and even the disciples. See with Jesus’ eyes day by day, hour by hour as He walks toward the cross to lay down His life for a hopeless, turbulent world. Let God’s Word in Holy Week Scriptures awaken us to the enormity of His sacrifice. The world is still gripped by winter’s darkness. People are abysmally and desperately in need of hope. Allow the magnitude of the empty tomb on Easter Sunday to strip away every pretension and false hope.

Doctrines do not give hope. Only the Son of God can: hope of reconciliation with the Father, the hope of eternal life, the Hope of the Holy Spirit indwelling in us. We who are the Jesus’ “hope of glory” must offer Resurrection hope to those who are crushed.

When asked, “Why Jesus?” I say because there is no one else who offers the tree of life, Himself.
The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope. Lamentations 3:24

Our Father, Who Art in heaven

Jesus prayed. He healed the sick, fed the multitudes, forgave sinners, cast out demons, taught in the synagogues, made disciples and walked among us. Unarguably, before, during and after his miracles and his ministry to the poor, the sick and the lost, Jesus prayed. The Lord’s voice was an unceasing voice of prayer.

The Gospels record that for Jesus prayer and thanksgiving were inseparable. One can only imagine what the Lord said to His Father in those early mornings on the mountain, whether He wrestled and wept or spent His time in absolute glorious worship. But in His public life, Jesus continuously expressed gratitude for His heart was anchored in God, in Love.

Before He took care of people’s needs, Jesus thanked God. The feeding of the multitudes is described in all four Gospels as two different occasions: Matthew 14, Mark 8, Luke 9 and John 6. In both times, the Lord took a few loaves of bread and some fish, gave thanks and miraculously fed huge crowds.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, Jesus spoke a blessing and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples to set before the people. Luke 9:16

When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. Mark 8:6

Before He raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus thanked God, glorifying the One who had sent Him. He spoke and testified that those mourning Lazarus would believe Jesus was the Truth, Life and Way.

They took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. John 11:41

I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” John 11:42

Before Jesus went to cruelly to the cross to suffer and die, He spent His final hours celebrating the Passover with the disciples. At the Lord’s Supper, he shared bread and wine with them. He no longer multiplied bread and fish for thousands, but eternal life in Himself, for countless millions and billions. First Jesus prayed:

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Matthew 26:26.

An old hymn proclaims: “I heard the Voice of Jesus say..” Do you want to hear from God? Do you really want to hear the Voice of Jesus? Do you want to feed hungry souls, raise those who are dead and broken? Do you need strength in persecution and trial? We say yes, but foolishly grasp at the outcome before fulfilling the requirement. Jesus still speaks through the Holy Spirit inviting us to respond with heart -filled thanksgiving, honor and praise before undertaking any other ministry. Let gratitude testify to those who need to hear, whose eyes are still blind and who are chained in darkness.

Blessed are You, God our Father. Thank you that you hear us. Help us pray like Jesus. May gratitude be the cornerstone of every prayer!

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned… and glorified God Luke 7:15

In the story of the ten lepers whom Jesus healed, only one returned. He responded to his healing by turning back to Jesus, falling at His feet, giving thanks and glorifying God. The Samaritan leper was like the paralytic whom Jesus healed on the Sabbath. For both of them, gratitude was immediate, loud and specifically praised God.

When Jesus asked, “where are the other nine,” He wasn’t questioning their ingratitude toward Him personally, but pointing out their ignorance and ingratitude to the Father. Jesus’ ministry always focused on giving glory and honor to the Father, not Himself. Jesus was never satisfied to address what was apparent or superficial in men. His questions turned men’s souls inside out.

Our gratitude has to be more than words, more than thank you God for this favor or that blessing or helping me in such and such a mess. I confess to such responses far too often. I spend a few minutes in prayers of thanksgiving – and truly, I am very grateful. The intent is the right one, but does it go far enough according to Jesus response to the healed leper? How rarely do the best of prayers become worshipful “falling at His feet and glorifying God.”

Since Jesus admonished the nine lepers who did not return, then let the Holy Spirit also convict us if we don’t fully focus on God’s abounding grace toward us. Gratitude is incomplete unless it moves us to fall before Jesus and give the Father every glory due His Name.  Whenever God answers our prayers, whether it is “yes, no, or not yet, ” we have the beautiful opportunity to give God praise and glory with more than a Hallmark response.    Like the leper, like the paralytic and the blind men whom Jesus healed, return to give thanks at the feet of the Savior with hearts wide open. Does not our loving Father deserve more than a dash of thanks dropped into the spiritual mailbox?

Will it be through music, song or poetry? Will it be through a time of rest and peace in His presence? Will it be with kindness and  love toward another? Will it be in silent adoration?  Will it be  searching the Scriptures for new revelation,  discovering more and more reasons   to glorify God?   The Holy Spirit which convicts will also show how God desires us to respond through the Word and through our  unique gifts. Thus, we pray –

Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 1. Timothy 1:17

“A  leper now cleansed embraces His Lord,
The  healed paralytic  dances for joy –
In bowed adoration, their hearts become songs
of thanksgiving and praise to the glory of God. ”

“And forget not all His benefits” Psalm 103:2

There is a single theme which the Holy Spirit never ceases whispering to me. Have a grateful heart. Thank God no matter what. Bless the Lord at all times.

Sincere, humble gratitude  is the antidote to the world’s poisonous self exaltation. It check mates pride.  However, gratitude is more than words. It arises from knowing the full extent of God’s love and forgiveness, laying down all pretenses and responding to His mercy. For some of us it’s the reality of having been utterly lost – and then being found by the very One we’d been running away from. It is impossible for me to ever forget “being found” by God’s grace. Once restored, a broken heart refuses to return to its old self because it’s tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord. Psalm 103 is the prayer of gratitude for God’s forgiveness, healing, redemption, covenant mercy and abundance.

Gratitude is the vessel for loving God, worship and prayer. In Luke 7 the woman with the alabaster flask  knelt before Jesus, anointed Him with oil, kissed and washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. She offered Jesus what the Pharisee who had invited Jesus into his house did not – recognition and worship. Jesus knew the Pharisee’s secret condemnation of the woman and rebuked him for his callous heart. The sinful woman was forgiven much because she loved much. She was possibly the same woman Jesus had saved from stoning and if so, would not her gratitude to the Lord have been  boundless? It overflowed like her tears.

This Pharisee was called Simon the Leper. Obviously, he must have been healed of his disease. Physically, he was no longer unclean or he could not have been in public, let alone have guests in his house but Jesus revealed a deeper uncleanliness: condemnation, judgment, hostility, arrogance, hardness of heart. It was also ungratefulness. Perhaps Jesus had healed him, but Simon’s heart was of stone, not living flesh. It was not cleansed. Simon was like the nine lepers  in Luke  17 who did not return to Jesus after they were healed. Having been healed of his leprosy,  he   “showed himself to the priests” but was blind and ungrateful to the Healer sitting at table.  Instead , he was offended by the woman’s extravagant worship and by Jesus’  tolerance of her. He was forgiven little because of the plank in his own eye.

Without gratitude, the same plank  blinds us.  We lose sight of how desperately we need God’s forgiveness. Then like Simon the Leper, forgiven little, we love very little.

May God give us a heart  like an alabaster flask pouring out tears of gratitude!

My soul faints for your salvation. But I hope in your word. Psalm 119:81

Recently I was at my daughter’s house in Salt Lake. She, her husband and their two girls are voracious readers. Their bookshelves and tables overflow with books. Books are an eclectic part of their furnishings.

I’d  gone  to the basement for quiet time,  prayer and guidance from the Lord.  Standing  in front of a wall- filled book case, I glanced at the titles. Old and new volumes were crammed together in no particular order or genres: professional medical studies; folk lore collections; philosophy; psychology; science and science fiction; familiar old novels and children’s books; classics and a lot of fantasy literature. Some authors I recognized and many I did not. It was a bibliographical jumble as if I’d stumbled into a library’s back room. While I found books on religion and theology, there was no Bible.

I sat on the couch facing the line-up of great and not so great authors with my Bible  on my lap. It’s my travel Bible, a slim, thin- paged volume with no commentaries, having far less pages than a Tolkien or Shakespeare. However, in my hands lay a singular pearl of great price which Jesus talked about. The “words in red” revealing Jesus’ Gospel in the New Testament set into the foundation of the Old Testament are more precious than all the libraries of the world. I had God’s Word before me.  All the other numerous books in the basement library hold the words of humans.

Much of my life has been in pursuit of truth and meaning. I asked questions which all of us ask: Who am I? Why am I here? Am I alone on this planet or is there a God who walks alongside? What is the point of any of this? What is truth anyway?

The world’s  answers rarely satisfied me for  long. Neither art  nor science nor literature nor any of the humanities led me to truth or resolved the big questions. I had a great deal of head knowledge and a very confused, empty soul. The more I studied, the farther I got away from the Truth. I was like Pilate facing Jesus: truth was a rhetorical construct of the mind, impossible to grasp.

The greatest gift I ever received was a Bible from a friend. He told me the Bible is the living Word of God. “You will find it very odd but just read and God will speak to you through the Bible. Trust His Voice, “ he said. It wasn’t long before I heard that quiet Voice which has never stopped speaking if I stop to hear. It is a mystery.

God’s Voice in the Scriptures answer every question and provides all the guidance needed for the remainder of this journey. Thomas, always the skeptic, wanted Jesus to give him solid proof of His Word. Before the crucifixion, Thomas asks Jesus where He is going. How would he know the way?

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

I identify with Thomas a lot. Before being reborn in Christ Jesus, I didn’t know the way either. I followed whatever   path was in front of me, was without direction and got lost repeatedly. The Bible gives simple redirection to Jesus who is Truth and Life and the Way to the Father. Period. We are blind as Pilate when looking for  the “What” instead of “Who.” Truth is a person named Jesus, not Greek philosophy.

Philosophers are concerned with how to think about knowledge and existence. Thinking about human joy, pain and sorrow is far different than walking it out with one another. Searching for the “philosopher’s stone” is no more than an academic exercise.  No psychologist offers eternal hope. No scientist inspires us to be more than star molecules. Literature gives insights  but  literature also mirrors  evil  and darkness.  Human answers to eternal questions are impossible, like fireflies claiming the sun.

Thomas Aquinas was the brilliant author of the Summa Theologica.  As a Doctor of the Church, he tried to reconcile Greek philosophy with Christianity and is considered to be one of Christianity’s greatest theologians. One night in 1273 he completely stopped writing. When asked why, Thomas replied: “I can write no more. All that I have written seems like straw.” Thomas never wrote another word and his work was never finished. What is one to think of that? I think that Thomas realized even his theology about God was futile. No matter what he wrote, it would not suffice to understand or explain God. Ultimately, apart from the Holy Spirit , all our thoughts   end up in the hay barn.

 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11

The Word of God is alive and limitless because the Holy Spirit breathes it into us. God reveals Himself through his own Word  Jesus,  and through Jesus alone.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:1

I am still an unabashed book worm.  But I don’t t need libraries filled with books to teach me any more  because I’ve found  the Truth.  In a  single psalm like Psalm 119  the Holy Spirit offers  everything I ever sought and everything still necessary: truth, light, understanding, wisdom, restraint from evil, unchanging divine principles, , eternal precepts, discernment, and instructions sweeter than honey.

Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.  Your word is a l lamp to my feet and a light to my path.  Psalm 119:105-106

How vast is this library of One, the  opened up  Word of God!

Set your affection on things above not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:2 

There is something about January which makes me get into the “I need to clean out some of this stuff” mood. I took down the Christmas decorations earlier than usual and in the process of putting them away discovered a set of my mother’s dishes, still in the packing box on the shelf from four years ago. Or was it longer?

As I unpacked the china, I quickly realized that I had no room to store the dishes in my hutch (which is why I avoided the entire issue in the first place.) I already had four other sets crammed in there: our wedding china, one incomplete but precious set inherited from Dan’s grandmother and two more full sets of dishes. I could probably have dinner for 50 or more but as Dan says, no one does large sit down dinners any more. We eat our nuked meals on generic, plastic or paper plates (recycled of course). Bone china, silver and crystal set out on pretty tablecloths for dinners are archaic and excessive. They reflect social values which are disappearing even in my own life.

I freely admit I have too much stuff. Some of it is inherited from mothers and grandmothers. Most of it is the result of being married 53 years and having been richly blessed. Now I have to ask, what will happen to these treasures? My children have said No already. They have no room in their homes. They live casually. They don’t want to polish tarnished silver twice a year or hand wash fragile dishes. I can’t fault them for that.

The beginning of January is a good time to reflect on how much stuff – valuable or not- surrounds us. Of what lasting value is it really? Material possessions will possess us if we let them just like having too many sets of china I can’t give away! If we remember that earth is not our home it will be easier to be reasonable and balanced in material things. Jesus bought us with the price of His blood to have relationship with a lavish Father who provides us with all we need. We do not belong to this world any more and all our earthly treasures are as meaningless as dust.

Jesus warns about the temptations of possessions.

And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 22:15

Perhaps like me, you’ve packed far too much for the journey.  Enjoy and give thanks for what we are given  but then  rigorously pursue  a thorough January clearance  of  possessions which have taken over.  Clean out not only the “stuff” but the mind set which still needs more and more of the same. Invite the blessed,  unencumbered life of Christ to flow unhindered  within us as we travel onward as light as Light.

“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.  Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,…”  1 Chronicles 16:11-12

It’s the second day of January of 2017. I am watching the snow fall ever so gently and am trying to muster up the resolve to go for a walk. The cold air and exercise might clear out inertia clinging like cobwebs to my mind and body. I know what I should do. However, like the old standard song says, “Baby it’s cold outside” and the fireplace is ever so enticingly warm.

Two days into the new year and many of our well intended resolutions are already broken. Late December after a season of holiday overindulgence, we resolve to eat better, exercise our bodies regularly, spend less money next year, be kinder, gentler and generally grow up. The intentions are honorable but the follow through is…. Well, the intentions are honorable. I know myself too well to promise what I can’t possibly keep. I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions any more. I’m only  human.

Yesterday at church my husband talked about an incident which happened to him years ago. In his testimony he described how God spoke to his heart on a New Year’s Eve. Rather than making resolutions about tough choices he cannot keep, he asks the question, “What would Jesus do?” in any given situation. WWJD. That question is such a common place for many Christians it’s tempting to  be dismissive.  For Dan it was a mandate  from the Spirit.

Pastor confirmed Dan’s revelation and followed up with a Word for this year. It is quite simple. No new vision for our church. No tweaked  mission statement. No expansive ministry changes. Instead, he said our corporate and individual call for 2017 is to focus on Jesus. Focus on the only One who can change us, improve our circumstances and offer hope to this broken world. Keep our eyes on the Savior who showed the world the greatest love ever known. Kneel before the crucified King and repent. Look to the Lord with humility. Remember what He has done. Praise Him for   every blessing. Pray out of  gratitude. Focus on Jesus the Author and the completer of our faith. Resolutions are not the solution. Jesus is.

There are no new resolutions.   Look not for, but to Jesus instead. That is the most extraordinary, promising  and hopeful beginning to any new year.

O  come let us adore Him!

It is Christmas in just a few days. I am far from home visiting our daughter and family in Salt Lake for the holidays. One of the reasons for our coming was to attend Grand Parents’ Day at the girls’ school and to hear our  grand daughter sing in the cathedral choir this week. Earlier today they presented Benjamin Britton’s “Procession of the Carols” and  when the choir entered the church singing a capella I felt awestruck. The music was majestic and glorious. The huge cathedral rang and resounded with the harmonies of young voices blending together in a joyful chorus of adoration.

I am reminded again this year of Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth when

… suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:…Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests. Luke 2:13-14

What appeared in the heavens at Jesus’ birth was vastly greater than a church choir. The Word says it was a “great multitude of the heavenly host.” One can only imagine what the sky looked and sounded like: countless voices filling the earth and the sky. A host of voices praising God and glorifying Him from the depths of the heavens for the Child who was  King of Angels. Luke’s simple description fires the heart and imagination. What indescribable, ethereal   music  must have been pouring over the baby Jesus from the skies.

Does that not give one pause to wonder who it is we come to adore at Christmas? The angels’ joyful voices could not be contained in the heavens. On earth simple shepherds were   awestruck and fell in worship. Magi came from far off to find Messiah, the prophesied King of the Jews, bringing gifts for royalty.

It was a baby born that night in Bethlehem but it was God Incarnate, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  It was the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings who will sit on the throne at the Father’s right hand. It is He to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given. It is the Lord Jesus who saves mankind from destruction and promises eternal Life. John says the small baby is the Word made flesh, the Light that came into the world and gives men life. He is Wonderful Counselor,  Prince of Peace, Almighty God. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all things.

Sometimes we forget  the power and majesty of whom we adore. Christmas can easily become wrapped up in sentiments like a pretty package under the tree rather than a jaw dropping, knee buckling time, fire in the soul worship. Jesus ‘ birth was His entry into a dark world and the beginning of mankind’s redemption. His birth led to the violence of the cross and then to the glory of an empty grave. His birth concludes with victory over death and the grave ; it becomes  the gift of eternal life for all who believe in Him. The baby wrapped in swaddling clothes for whom the angels sang in Bethlehem is the Lamb on the Throne in Revelation, worshiped forever and ever by the same great multitude of the heavenly host, crying Holy, Holy, Holy. As will we.

Christmas is about this one thing: the beginning of all our adoration of Jesus.

Venite adoremus.  Venite adoremus. Dominum. O come let us adore Him. Christ the Lord.

Do not let your hearts be troubled John 14:1

It’s been a hard week of losses. On Tuesday our oldest daughter called to tell us her husband’s younger brother had died suddenly during the night. He had not been well since a car accident, but no one was prepared for this. Ryan was only 40. Wednesday I visited at the care center in McCall and was told that a resident I’d been seeing was ”on his way out” –  and I should stop in. As I entered his room I realized he was near death. I’d grown very fond of Brian during my visits and had seen him just the prior week. How could he have gone downhill so quickly? Then early Thursday morning another phone call came. One of my oldest and dearest friends in Boise had passed away from cancer. Her husband was still in shock. So were we.

I felt overwhelmed by the avalanche of tragedies. It was difficult to sort out priorities. For whom was I even grieving? For those who had passed on or for Brian barely hanging on? For all their distraught families? Dan and I were reeling by the end o the week. I wanted to shout, “OK, God, that’s enough for right now. “ I needed time out.

I believe we grieve much because we love much. When a loved one dies, the emotional place he or she had occupied in our hearts is emptied out. We’re left with a hole instead of a person. How can this be? How can Ryan or Brian or Judy no longer be here, be part of my life? The loss is painful and real. Like a hurt child running into a mother’s arms, we seek comfort and solace in our grief.

Jesus understood grief. His compassionate spirit was always moved by another’s  anguish. As Jesus moved closer toward the cross, he knew how devastated and lonely his disciples would feel after his death and so he prepared his disciples for his departure from them.  He told them not only that he was going away but warned that they cannot follow him. Peter is the first to protest. Never Lord. Not me. Thomas, Phillip and Judas question Jesus’ words. Why can’t we go with you? They want answers. None of the disciples can imagine being without their rabbi. How patiently and kindly Jesus must have listened to his friends. In the Fourteenth Chapter of John, Jesus consoles them ,  a father reassuring his fretful children.

 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14:3

“I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.” John 14:18

He will not leave them alone. Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to console them in their grief. Jesus, their Wonderful Counselor prophesied by Isaiah would no longer be with them physically, but he would send Another. The Paracletos would console, counsel, remind, strengthen and empower them. The Holy Spirit would fill their hearts to overflowing and pour out into the world.

 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. John 14:16

“All this I have spoken while still with you.  But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. John:14:25-27

This week I grieve losing friends even as I contemplate the many losses which will surely come in the future. My heart is heavy, just like the disciples were. Who can refill the empty spaces of love? Whom shall I invite in? There is only one who knocks at the heart’s door. If Jesus loved the disciples so much that He promised the Comforter to help them, He loves us equally and consoles us with the same promises. The Holy Spirit already abides in the reborn soul waiting to pour out   Jesus’  love into our grief.

But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. John 14:17

We love and we lose those we love, but the Holy Spirit is ever near, closer than our loved ones were. Where the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit abide, there are no orphans.

Do not be anxious for anything. Phil 4:6

I know a dear woman who worries excessively about everything. She is anxious not only about her own life in excruciating detail but then she also takes on everyone  else’s problems. Her anxieties cripple her and keep her in constant distress so that  she’s  never at peace with herself or with any one else. While her clinical anxiety is  treated with  both medications and counseling,  she is not healed. Sadly, her mind is not sound. Spiritually, she’s in bondage.

Paul teaches the opposite about anxiety. We’re to be anxious for nothing. We don’t have to fret over life’s bumps and bruises because we can ask God for help. Jesus said that our heavenly Father knows all our needs even before we ask. The Bible teaches that once we are reborn, we receive the Spirit of freedom, power,  and a sound mind. We no longer need to be knotted up with worry and fear which is the real cause  of all anxiety.

The word anxiety comes from the German word Angst. Sigmund Freud first used the word in  psychoanalysis. In that context it is  neurotic ,   emotional malaise. Nowadays people wear their angst  like a special badge which attests to their hyper  sensitivity.  Modern angst  does like to show off  inner anxieties in   public. Think Woody Allen, the poster child for post- modern/ Hollywood Angst. The word in German literally means fear,  but  it is fear which  arises from   mortal  terror  about life or safety. It is not the Biblical fear of the Lord,  Furcht. The Latin origin of angst  identifies it with  anguish. One dictionary defines anguish as “emotional turmoil; a feeling of acute but vague anxiety   often accompanied by depression,  especially philosophical anxiety.” And is it not anguish which takes control when we’re overly anxious? Anxiety is dominated by anguish which is dominated by Angst/fear.

It doesn’t take long to see there is  a “who” behind all the “what” of our anxieties. Satan’s intent is to deceive, kill and destroy God’s children. His weapons are fear, confusion, lies and doubt. Out of that come anxieties flying around  like a hatch of black  flies. Such thoughts lead to  doubt, apprehension, despair – and then more fear. It is a vicious cycle.

God’s answer in Philippians is clear. Don’t be anxious about a single thing. The emphasis is that in all things, every single problem which comes along,

in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:6-7

The love of God in Christ Jesus will remove all angst, all fear, all anxiety from our minds and hearts if we pray, supplicate and thank God first. Speaking as the Good Shepherd, Jesus nullifies with love what the enemy tries to do through fear and anxiety.  Jesus says He has come

that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10

Isn’t it time  to throw away the worn out worry beads of anxieties? Lay them down and go to the Father in prayer instead.   Therein lies the gift of Jesus, Prince of Peace,  in whose presence is  “peace which surpasses  all our understanding.”