Turning all my worries to God – 18th February 2017

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”(Romans 8:28).

It is sometimes a disconcerting truth for many Christians that even though we belong to God through faith in Christ, we still seem to experience the same problems that plagued us before we were saved. We often become discouraged and bogged down in life’s cares. The fact that both the Old and New Testaments address this problem the same way indicates that God knows problems and worries are inevitable in this life. Thankfully, He has given us the same solution He gave in both Psalms and Peter’s letter. It says in Psalm 55:22 “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall” and we can read from in 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you”

Contained within these two verses are several amazing truths: First they teach us that God will sustain us, second that He will never let us fall, and third that He cares for us. What wonderful promises from God. Taken one at a time, we see first that God declares both His ability and His willingness to be our strength and support—mentally, emotionally and spiritually. He is able (and best of all, willing!) to take everything that threatens to overwhelm us and use it for our benefit. He has promised to “work all things together for the good of those who love him: We can learn this from Colossians 1:17 “ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”But we can also learn this is availed to those who have been called according to his purpose. As we can learn from Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

As Christians we must always remember that we have Gods promises for us even at times when we doubt Him, He is still working for our good and His glory. In addition to above the bible teaches us that He has also promised that He will allow no trial to be so great we cannot bear it and that He will provide a means of escape as stated in 1 Corinthians 10:13, No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted[b] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” By this, He means that He will not let us fall, as He promised in Psalm 55:22,“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall”

The third statement—“he cares for you”—gives us the motivation behind His other promises. We know that in our day to day living, parents and family are the ONLY ONES that we be assured that they care for me. There may be others who may say this but we have NO certainty there. It is only our God who truly loves us and cares for us. He is our loving heavenly Father whose heart is tender toward His children. He forgives us and enables us an eternity with Him! We can learn when Jesus reminds us that just as an earthly father would not deny his children bread, so God has promised to give us “good gifts” when we ask Him as stated in Matthew 7:11, “ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!.

When we are troubled with worry, we run to Him and like asking from our parents, we ask “good gifts” from Him to overcome the trouble faced by us. In the spirit of asking for good gifts, first we must pray and steadfastly commit our worry to the Lord and seek His provision to overcome same. The Bible He teaches us many things so that we will have peace in our hearts because He whom that we have faith and believe has “overcome the world. He said: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may

have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”(John 16:33).God’s word is Truth and we must come to Him in faith and ask Him to show us how to "overcome" our problems, our worries, our anger, our fears and our guilt. The Lord reveals to us through His Word, the Bible, that we can overcome our anxiety and worry. Taking from the New Testament, we can learn four teachings we place here among many that you too will be able to find through same.

As Christians first we must learn to rejoice in our problems because God will use them to our benefit. Yes this may be impossible, but if one has sufficient faith in the Lord, overcoming anything is possible because: He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” When one is filled with worry everything affects us including our walk with God. But we have some important learning through the Gospel: "Knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hopes"(Romans 5:3-4). Secondly we need to learn to see our "worries" as an opportunity to learn and practice our absolute faith in God’s provision in overcoming whatever we are facing. We can learn from Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."

Third we need to counteract our anger with forgiveness. When one is filled with anger, he or she has anger takes precedence over everything else. Jesus is love and as Christ followers we must learn to follow His ways to be like Him. We can learn from Ephesians 4:32, "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." Fourth we need to deal truthfully with any sinful feelings. In our day to day living we are faced with many temptations. When we give in to this, we become sinners and whatever righteousness one has goes out of the window. Being truthful requires confessing to God and through faith seeking Repentance and that way we can be cleansed from our unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." We believe in a good God who forgives our sin and our problems can be dealt with through simple faith in God's Word.

As Christians we must bear in mind that our God is bigger than all our worries and problems put together, and we must realize that if we are to have any victory in our lives. Everyone suffers with these difficulties, because the Bible teaches that temptation is "common" to mankind. We must not let Satan deceive us into thinking that all our problems are our fault, all our worries will come true, all our anger condemns us, or that all our guilt is from God. We must clearly believe that if we do sin and confess, God forgives and cleanses. We need not feel ashamed, but rather take God at His Word that He does forgive and cleanse. None of our sins are so heavy that God cannot lift them from us and throw them into the deepest sea.

In reality, feelings come from thoughts, so, even though we can't change how we feel, we can change how we think. And this is what God wants us to do. So, each day, taking one step at a time, we should pray for God's Word to guide us, read or listen to God's Word, and meditate on God's Word when the problems, worries, and anxieties of life come along. The secret to giving things over to Christ is really no secret at all—it's simply asking Jesus to take our burden of “worry” and enable me to live a helpful and loving life as He wants us to have.