Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.  ⁶ Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight.”  NET

Anxiety is an issue that every person deals with at some point in time.  I am incredibly grateful to the LORD for His wonderful Grace and Goodness.   This passage holds a special place in my heart, for it was the tool God used to bring me to Salvation.  It has been a key to understanding the various trials and tribulations of life and has resulted in an amazing victory.

Humanity needs God’s help to overcome anxiety and Worry!  Without divine intervention, the chronic worriers, followers of misplaced trust, and the confused never get relief.  Until Anxiety and Worry have been overcome, they will deal continual misery to the person tormented by them.   It has proven to be one of the devil’s most effective tools.

We can have victory over Worry!

• Worry causes a person to be Physically Sick, Depressed Mentally, and lacking spiritually.
• Worry hinders prayer and causes a person to place more trust in the arm of flesh than the hand of God.
• Worry is a deterrent to Faith and causes the loss of hope because it dwells in the natural, blind to the supernatural.
• Worrying is a Learned Trait.   No person was born worried.
• Worry can be overcome by learning to rely on God’s Word, Person, and Power.

There are two types of things we should not worry about.   Those things we cannot help or prevent.  Those things we can help or prevent.  The writer of Proverbs gives the pathway to Spiritual Victory.

1. TRUST The Lord with All our Heart.

The idea and implication are “Total Trust,” where one places their entire life in the hands of God’s providence and care.  It means living a life of expectant obedience.

We had to Trust God for Salvation.  In order to live victoriously, we have to have confidence in God’s Ability and Integrity.  We are to Trust God in Everything all the time!

1 Peter 5:7       – “Casting all your care on Him; for He cares for you.”

Isaiah 26:3 – “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You; because he trusts in You.”

1. LEAN NOT to Your Own Understanding.

Man does not have the ability or intelligence to guide his own life successfully without God’s help.

Isaiah 55:8-9 – “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Proverbs 14:12 – “There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

Jeremiah 17:5-7 – “Thus says the LORD; cursed is the man that trust in man and makes flesh his arm and whose heart is departed from the LORD.  Blessed is the man that trusts in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.”

That person is like a Tree Planted by the Waters:

• We Do Not Understand All Things in the Natural.  
  • We See Only the Outward and Know Only the Circumstantial.
  • We Have No power to change people and Few Things.

1. IN ALL YOUR WAYS Acknowledge Him, and He Will Direct Your Path.

1 Timothy 4:12 – “Be an Example of the Believer.”

Psalm 37:23 – “The steps of a good man are ordered of the LORD.

Isaiah 30:21 – “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, this is the way; walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left.”

God has Promised to Supply all our Need.  He has promised to be with us all the time.  He has promised to protect us.  He has promised to return for us.  Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled…” 

If we are in Christ and He is in us, there is absolutely no reason to allow worry or anxiety to prevail.

CONCLUSION:

• Worry is not a product of faith; it is a fruit of fear.
• Worry is an attack of the enemy seeking to ruin our lives and burden us unnecessarily.
• Worry is rooted in confusion and fear, and we know the author of both.

God is not worried, so why should we worry?  God is in control so that we can trust Him.   The question for each of us is, “Who Is The LORD?”   A secondary question is, “Who Is He To Us?”   A follow-up question is, “What Is It That God Cannot Do?”   His arm is not too short to save.  His power has not diminished so that He cannot heal, deliver, save, and protect.  He is The Living God!

Trust and Obey, for there are no better way to be happy in Jesus than to Trust and Obey!

Jeremiah 26:1-6 – “In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah who have come to worship in the Lord’s house all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. Do not omit a word! ³ Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.’ ⁴ And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, ⁵ to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened; ⁶ then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, the very first thing that I heard in my spirit was, “It is always a choice.”   I paused and pondered that thought. Life is a series of choices, and every choice has a consequence (good or bad).   Every choice becomes the foundation for successive choices.   Choices make choices!

In Jeremiah 21, they were under siege by Babylon. Jeremiah brought the prophetic word: “Make a choice.”   Obey and live.  Rebel and die.   They did not like the choice because obedience meant surrender to Babylon, and their pride prevented them from obeying.  Babylon was to be temporary, but death was permanent.

In Jeremiah 26:1-5, we are brought face-to-face with something some today reject.  The prophetic word has value. God reveals His plans to help us navigate the troubled waters of life.   We want God to speak, but then we pick and choose which part of what He says we will obey.  Jeremiah 26:4 emphasizes the need to obey God’s directive explicitly.   Again, choice rises to the forefront! Choices have consequences (good or bad).

God’s call requires a choice.  Godliness is a choice.  We have the hope of divine enablement to manifest the character and nature of Jesus, but it begins with the choice of surrender.   (Remember the reference in Jeremiah mentioned earlier?)

In 1 Timothy 4:12, Paul, by the Holy Spirit, revealed that our objective is to be examples.

1. We are to be examples in how we talk.   (Both the words we use and the subject matter).

2. We are to be examples in our conduct.   (What do people see in how we act and react?)

3. We are to be examples in Love.   (Agape, as seen in 1 Corinthians 13 and in Jesus, is the goal).

4. We are to be examples in faithfulness.   (Both loyalty to our assignment, to others, to our faith, and to our commitment and word).

5. We are to be examples in purity.   (What do others see in us? We may refrain from certain words or acts, but what is in our hearts?)

As I think about choices, I think of my conversion to Christ.   Jesus came into the world to save people, and that included the worst of the worst (me). My choice to accept Him affects not only me and my eternity, but everyone I encounter.   My choice lets me be an example that points to Him.  That example is a testimony.   My testimony either magnifies Jesus or reeks of hypocrisy, based on my obedience, which is the result of choice.

So, choose wisely!   Choose to obey.   Choose to accept His grace.   Choose to live Him by dying to self.   Dying requires dying!   It does not include partial resurrections of certain things, acts, or attitudes.  It requires dying. The choice before is Life by dying to self or death by living for self.

I choose life by dying to self!

Ephesians 6:11 – “ Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, something different filled my thoughts. Being properly dressed filled my thoughts. Properly dressed or appropriately dressed. What does that mean?

Let me ask the question I heard in my spirit: “How confident would you be speaking to a group of people if you were naked? How confident would you feel if you were interviewing for a job in casual attire while the interviewers were in formal attire? How confident would you be playing basketball in formal attire when those competing were dressed for basketball? How confident would you be going into a battle wearing street clothes and carrying a notepad when your opponents were in full armor and carrying weapons of war?”

Think about those and other scenarios.  Your confidence level would likely be incredibly low.  Although the clothes themselves did not equip you, they affected your confidence, and your lack of confidence affected your ability.

Ephesians 6:10-18 reminds us of the importance of being properly dressed. (v. 11) – Tells us that we need the armor (proper attire) SO THAT we will be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.   If the devil has the advantage of our lack of confidence because we are improperly or inadequately clothed, he does not have to be more powerful because we defeat ourselves.

“Clothes make the man” is a cliché, but it has some truth.   Why?   Because when we have the proper (situation-dictated) attire, we are more confident. The more confident we are, the more we trust our training and ability. We are not distracted by a feeling of inferiority.

Remember, we are not fighting spiritual battles with natural weapons. Likewise, if we wear clothing inadequate for the situation, it affects the outcome.

In (v. 13) we read, “For this reason…”   What reason?  This is a spiritual war. “Take (put on) up the full armor of God SO THAT you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.”

One benefit of being Spirit-filled is awareness of the proper attire! Please move beyond clothing in natural situations to spiritual warfare.   I know from experience the importance of proper clothing (gear) when facing a battle. I know the confidence that builds in knowing you are appropriately and adequately attired. The less the distraction, the greater the confidence.

How are we dressing for our daily battles?  Are we consciously putting on the clothing for the day?  Wearing our spiritual PJs to a battle may feel comfortable at first, but it will get us killed.  Putting on the armor (attire) requires consistent effort and determination.

Let’s get dressed for battle! What are you wearing to the war?

Ecclesiastes 4:6 – “Better is one handful with some rest than two hands full of toil and chasing the wind.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, I heard the question, “Are you chasing the wind?”   I wanted to say, NO!   However, life has taught me never to respond with a knee-jerk reaction to God or to most other things.   Stop, Look, and Listen.   Put your mind in gear before you allow your elephant mouth to write a check you can’t cash.   Usually, God will give the answer and solution without our argument or defense.

There is a latent, if not predominant, tendency in the human heart to want more, and even to yield to greed. (Ecclesiastes 1:8-9).   Our human frailty and inability to see the end from the beginning force us to seek God and rely on His guidance. (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

I find the declaration in Ecclesiastes 4:6 arresting and thought-provoking. “Better is a handful with some rest than two hands full of toil and chasing the wind.”   This highlights the contrast between contentment and greed, or purpose and fantasy.  Ecclesiastes 5:10 should liberate everyone from the bondage of desire for stuff.  We should seek God, not stuff.

If we want to be free from fantasy and delivered from the black hole of inordinate desire for wealth and the fluff of stuff, the answer is in Ecclesiastes 5:20.

What we see is that doing God’s will and loving what we do blocks out the morbid thoughts of our mortality (which immobilize us and rob us of the enjoyment of life).   It helps us stay focused on God and His call.  Our life view expands from now to forever!   We become compelled by purpose, not controlled by stuff.

1 Corinthians 9:16 speaks of my heart and could be translated to include any purpose or call. “Woe to me if I don’t preach the gospel!”   Woe to me if I don’t pursue God’s assignment for my life!  Our whole focus should be God (His Kingdom is eternal), not fortune or fame (Earthly and temporary).

1 Corinthians 10:23 gives us a vital key to life.   Don’t do it because you can; do what is right every time.  Do what builds others up because in strengthening others, we strengthen the Body (of which we are a part).

Are we Wind Chasers or God Chasers?  The answer is in what we invest ourselves in! If we chase things while also trying to chase after God, we are double-minded and unstable in Everything!   Does that please God? Does that build up?

Yes, we have responsibilities, but what consumes our hearts and thoughts? Are we wind chasers?

Romans 1:28-32 – “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.  ²⁹ They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ senseless, covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless. ³² Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.”

Time marches on!   Time leaves in its wake the good and the bad, the joy and the sorrow.  Time affords us choices, and our choices determine the growth or death of our hopes and dreams.   Love is a choice.   Sadness is a choice.   Rejoicing is a choice.   Living joyfully or morbidly is a choice.

I choose to love each of you and celebrate life, pursuing the purposes God designed for my life.   I will treasure the memories but will not be bound by time past; I will press forward to time yet spent.   I choose to live life and fulfill my destiny with a joyful heart!

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was challenged on several fronts.   I saw my humanity and its revolting frailty and faultiness. I also saw God’s Grace, and its incredible transformational power.   I saw the contrast between a life fully surrendered to and focused on God and one that elevates self (mind, will, emotions, hopes, desires, and disappointments) to the throne (center) of life.  I saw the contrast between dipping the toes in the wading pool of life and the swimmers who live, swim, or sink.

In Romans 1:28-32, the warning is inescapable.   We pick some sins as condemnable and judge them, justifying ourselves, but we are guilty at some point. The List of Sins in (vv 29-31) covers virtually every aspect of life and interpersonal relationships.   Are we guilty in any area?   Then, judging is not the solution; prayer is!   Romans 2:21 reminds us that we are expected to “practice what we preach.” Mercy will win people; judgmentalism will push them away because they see our flaws!

Romans 5:1-5 is a difficult pill to swallow.  When difficulties and struggles come, we resist and complain.  When loss comes, we bury ourselves in our remorse and miss God’s process and the product He is producing.

Consider the process. Sufferings (trials) produce endurance. That is interesting.   Endurance reveals to us and through us that we have survived this; therefore, we gain confidence that we can go through difficulty, pain, and loss.  We see hope!

Endurance develops character, which reveals who we are. Character trusts the Creator.  Character produces or opens the door to hope!  Not wishful thinking, but biblical hope, which is confidence and being convinced of God’s character!   It develops trust, which elevates us into a position of hopefulness, not despair.  

We become confident that Life’s disappointments are being transformed into God’s appointments, bringing us to a higher place in Him.  It opens the door to a Life yet lived. A life that impacts everything around us with the infusion of Hope!    We are brought into a place of overflowing Agape!

Life is a process! Justification (Romans 5:9-10) is instantaneous, but salvation is progressive.   We are being (sozed) made whole/complete daily. How we handle trials is a key factor in how high we soar in God!

Jesus came to give us Abundant Life, focusing on self-blocks that abundance! It is a choice! Why not choose life?