Our planet has been taken over by an invader called COVID-19, and it’s turning our lives upside down. And, is it surprising to say or hear someone say, “I am anxious?”
All these earth-shaking events are bringing many new unknowns into our lives and we feel helpless and hopeless.
But the question is, as Christians, are we helpless and hopeless at any point in our lives, regardless of what is happening in our individual lives and in the world?
Do we need to know about tomorrow for us to feel safe and secure?
Many people love to hear from prophets because they are worried about tomorrow. But are we even supposed to worry about tomorrow?
The word of God teaches us that God is our Help (Psalm 121) and our hope:
“God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.” Psalm 46:1-3 NASB
Wow! Did you see that?
Forget corona, even if the earth itself that we are standing on shakes, the Word says, “we will not fear!”
May God make this word become flesh and dwell in us!
Let me share with you five main reasons we get anxious:
- We get anxious when we think we know about tomorrow.
We sometimes speak in 100% certainty about what tomorrow holds. May God forgive us!
Besides God, no one knows about tomorrow. That is why the word of God says,
“Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.” Proverbs 27:1
You know what “you do not know” means? It means, you are human, not God and live like human, not like God.
In short, we simply don’t even know anything about the next moment, let alone tomorrow!
- We get anxious because we constantly listen to all kinds of news.
We keep ourselves up to date, to the minute, as if we are managing the universe. Since faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17), we believe the one that we hear the most.
The news says, “The economy is plummeting toward the ground and many more people will be unemployed.”
And that’s just one part of it; we stay tuned to hear more bad news: “The world is heading to its own destruction and people will start hurting each other,” and on and on and on.
I mean, how can we expect our mind, body and spirit to respond if we only hear this kind of thing all day long?
When we get addicted to hearing and talking about all the negative things, we lose interest in what the word of God has to say to us. So, we neglect it. That causes us to live in perpetual anxiety.
- We get anxious because we believe what we feel.
We trust our emotions more than the word of God. The mainstream media works hard to attract our emotions and feelings so we keep coming back to them. They care very little about the well-being of our soul, and disregard, above all, what the word of God says. So, they feed our emotions and feelings with all kinds of news.
The Bible says, “For we live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7). When we begin to change that to, “For we live by sight, not by faith,” we begin to live in fear and anxiety.
- We live in anxiety because we listen to our accuser.
Satan is an accuser. He accuses us day and night. And if we don’t read and study the Bible and know the basic truth of Christianity, such as the love and mercy of God, we get discouraged just by listening to him because Satan accuses us for the things we did. He has all the facts.
What he doesn’t tell us is what is ours in Christ Jesus. He does not want us to boast in the mercy of God.
Listen:
“But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love [mercy],” Psalm 33:18
And the Bible says,
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2 NASB
While we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, we get discouraged and run away from God and His word and we live in fear and anxiety.
- Last but not least, we live in fear and anxiety because we live in sin
Fear is not sin, but if we let fear build its nest in our life, we live in sin. We get agitated and helpless when we fear and we do the unthinkable to forget our fear or escape it.
That is why there are more than 360 “do not fear” message in the Bible. If the devil cannot get us to sin, he works hard to get us to fear, whether the fear of tomorrow or anything, so that he can eventually get us to sin. And everyone who lives in sin lives in fear. We should not forget that.
So, the conclusive message is this:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 NASB
Amen! Amen! May God make this passage a reality in our lives so we lead a life that is free of anxiety and fear! ///