Fashioned for Faith

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.  Matthew 6:34

The story is told of a husband and wife named Bill and Mary.  Bill was literally “killing himself” with his daily worries, anxieties and stress.  So Bill and Mary visited the doctor’s office.  The doctor examined Bill carefully but then called Mary into his office for a private consultation.  He said with a very direct voice:  “Mary, if Bill is going to live, you’re going to have to create a stress-free environment for him at home.  Here’s what I suggest:  before breakfast every morning, you shower and put on your best perfume, and then prepare a healthy breakfast for Bill complete with the morning’s newspaper with all the bad news cut out of it.  While he’s eating, set out his clothes for the day and let him know that he doesn’t need to bother picking up after himself because you will do it.  Then send him off to work with a kiss and a specially prepared coffee.  When he leaves, change into your work clothes and clean up the house, do all the chores you can before showering again, putting on that great smelling perfume and preparing a delicious supper..  When Bill arrives home, have everything ready for him, greet him with a kiss, show him that his meal is ready before the television, the channel is set to his favorite ball game and his Lutheran beverage is there for him as well.  When Bill goes to bed, take a few moments to get everything ready for the next day and then you can go to bed.  You’ll need to do this every single day if Bill is going to live.” 

While driving home, Bill asked, “So what did the doctor talk to you so long about?”  Mary turned to him and said - matter of factly - “The doctor told me you’re going to die!”

This humorous example points to a serious fact – stress kills.  Stress distorts our vision of what God is doing in our lives.  Our eyes of faith, though, allow us to see God providing for us – even through stressful times.  The world tells us that one can do the right things to remove stress and anxiety; Jesus says in John 16:  “Take heart, I have overcome the world.”  The world is full of fear-causing events, but Jesus says, “Fear not.”  In fact, God’s Word tells us 365 times not to fear.  We literally kill ourselves with anxiety, but God says in 1 Peter to cast all our anxieties on Him, for He cares for us.  The world thinks it can earn the kingdom of God, but Jesus says that the Father takes pleasure in GIVING us the Kingdom. 

Our daily lives are full of all kinds of burdens, concerns, and worries – so much that we can even worry ourselves to death.  So to what are we going to listen – God’s Word or the world?  God’s Word allows us to see that He is indeed at work – even when we’re faced with burdens, concerns, and worries.  That is especially comforting now as we deal with the pandemic and the effects that it has had on our lives in so many different ways.  Our eyes of faith see God's hand at work even in the midst of the most stressful times in life.

Satan though would love for us to see otherwise.  Satan wants us to look at the world only to see destruction and turmoil.  Satan will show us tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, oil leaks, and other natural disasters and say – “Isn’t this proof against God’s care in creation?”  Satan loves to call attention to our failures, hardships, and trials.  These things weigh us down and lead us to worry.  The word for worry in the Greek actually means to be choked – and that’s exactly what worry does – it chokes us.  Worry actually shortens our lives. 

Dr. E Stanley Jones said this about worry, “I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is.  I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil.  I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety.  In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath--these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely--these are my native air.” 

Thanks be to God for He provides everything we need each and every day!  We have no need for fear or worry because God is for us!  God desires for us to turn our worries over to Him and to receive from Him peace, hope, comfort, and grace!