Don’t worry, trust God

After a recent moose road kill my family and I were processing moose at midnight- on a school night! My teenage sons were exhausted. Trying to lighten the moment I said, “Boys, don’t worry. When the coronavirus hits and we are quarantined we will be together 24/7.” My sons groaned. I continued, “There is good news and bad news. The good news is we will have plenty of food. The bad news is it is all moose and salmon!”

We live in a culture that is filled with fear and anxiety. The headlines are filled with things to fear- the coronavirus, imminent economic collapse, climate change, the polar bears running out of food and Prudhoe Bay is going dry! How does God want us to respond? Should we respond with fear, terror or panic? Of course not. God’s way is much better. We must respond with faith- faith in God’s promises.

Philippians 4:6 commands, “Do not be anxious about anything.” The apostle Paul wrote these words from prison! Worry is an old German word that means to strangle. Worry wraps its tentacles around our mind and sucks the life from us. God offers a better way. Philippians 4:6-9 provides three steps for overcoming worry.

The first step is thankful prayer. Verse 6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Thankful prayer is not looking back. It is not saying, “God, thank You for everything You have provided. Thanks for taking care of us.” It is true that the best predictor of future results is past performance. The Lord has been faithful in the past. He will be faithful in the future.

Thankful prayer looks forward. It says, “God, we are thankful that Your plan is perfect. You are working everything together for Your glory and My highest good.” Difficult circumstances come into our lives to refine us.

Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. For fourteen years (from age 17 to 30) his life was absolutely ruined by his brothers. His life went from bad to worse. He started off as a slave and ended up as a prisoner. Even worse he was forgotten by those he helped. The situation seemed hopeless.

What sustained Joseph during those times of darkness? He had an unshakeable confidence in God’s perfect plan for his life. Years later Joseph told his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20).

The second step is to meditate on God’s promises. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” We must fill our minds with God’s truth.

Romans 8 is described as the Denali or the Mount Everest of God’s Word. Some of the greatest promises in the Bible are found in this chapter. A believer in Jesus is adopted into God’s family. Romans 8:15 says, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” God is our Father. Jesus is our older Brother. We are God’s sons and God’s daughters through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son Jesus. A father always provides for his children.

Romans 8:31 reads, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” Paul is arguing from the greater to the lesser. The greatest thing is for God to give His Son Jesus to die for us. He will certainly do the lesser thing of meeting our needs.

The third step is to apply the truth. Philippians 4:9 says, “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me- practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” We must translate the truth into action. God feeds the birds but the birds are not lazy. Birds wake up early and diligently search for food.

We must be faithful. Sometimes all I can do is clean the garage. Move forward. Don’t stop. Tackle your problems one step at a time. 1 Peter 5:8 describes the devil as a roaring lion. A loin roars at night. On the open plain a lions’ roar can heard over a mile away. A lion roars to paralyze their prey with fear. Don’t be paralyzed. Be a person of courage. Thankful prayer, meditating on God’s truth and putting the truth into action is God’s prescription for overcoming worry and anxiety.

Ethan Hansen is a pastor at Faith Bible Fellowship in Big Lake.