The Word of God promises us a life in Christ that is full of abundance and victory ( John 10:10b). Just the same, Jesus warns us that in this life we will be faced with many trials and difficult circumstances that have the potential to discourage us to the point of despair if we don't learn how to face and respond to them.
Perhaps you may be facing a challenge in your life that is threatening to overwhelm you, steal your peace and joy and pull you into a downward spiral of despair. The good news is that no matter what you have faced, are facing or will be facing in the future, there is a Godly response to every troubling problem you encounter and we would love to share it with you.
Philippians 4:6 says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Notice how we are instructed to be anxious for nothing? That word anxious comes from the Greek word "merimonao" and it means to be troubled, fretful or worried about something.
In Matthew 13:22, we read about the parable of the sower. In one account, the seed that is sown takes root and begins to grow. Soon, weeds begin to grow up around the new plants and choke the life out of them. The scripture explains that in this case, the seed is the Word of God planted in our hearts, as the Word is received, it begins to grow and produce faith, peace and life but the "weeds" being the cares of this world, begin to choke and suffocate that faith. Now, interestingly enough, the word cares here is also from the Greek word "merimonao", implying material worries and concerns that will choke, suffocate and strangle faith out of us. It's important to note, it does not say the material things of this world will suffocate our faith, but rather the worry over not having these provisions will.
Then in Luke 21:34, we are told to not let our hearts be overburdened and depressed by the cares of this life. Here again, the Greek translation for the word "cares" is the same one, meaning worries and concerns. However it is written in a way that refers to the events or incidents in life, or troublesome, trying events and difficult times.
So, from studying the scripture, we can conclude that we are not to have anxious, worrying thoughts about the necessities and provisions in life or about material needs. We are not to worry or be anxious about any events or incidents in our lives, not even when we face troublesome, trying and difficult times!
In the Word of God, Jesus spends much time dealing with the subject of worry, doubt and anxiety because He knows that close on its heels is the destructive spiritual force of fear and discouragement. He knows that worry and anxiety are a part of our fallen human nature. Even though, on the cross, He overcame every evil force that would be used as a weapon against us, every one of us has to take a purposeful stand against it in our lives. We have to enforce the devils defeat over our lives by not allowing that negative process to overwhelm us and pull us down.
According to the wisdom of God's Word, we are to stop responding to our troublesome circumstances by worrying and being anxious. Instead, we are to turn our eyes off the circumstance and onto the Lord. We can come to Him in our time of trouble and find our strength and salvation there.
