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For the
last twenty-three years of this ministry, I have learned one important
and meaningful lesson: that is, if God can choose and trust me to have a
part in reaching out to His unreached people, then I must trust Him to
provide us with the necessary means to carry out His will. To be honest
with you, though God always has proved Himself to be faithful and
caring, it is not always easy to trust Him, especially when the giving
to this ministry gets very low. Nobody likes to work for an employer if
he is not sure that he is getting his paycheck at the end of the week.
Here at EOM sometimes we don’t know where the funds will come to meet
the payroll and do all the necessary work that He called us to do. The
only thing that keeps us in the ministry is His grace and the love and
compassion for His unreached people.
I
personally hate to worry! Even before I came to know the Lord, I used
to guard myself against anxiety and worry. At an early age, the fear of
worry prompted me to read Dale Carnegie’s book entitled “How to Stop
Worrying & Start Living.” My reading was not to seek deeper
insights but to look for a quick fix. I memorized some of the
principles and guidelines that the author outlined in his book and
attempted to apply them in my daily life. Though it was not written
from a Christian point of view, I came across some new ideas and
insights that helped me temporarily to tackle an uninvited intruder,
worry. This is what I say now to protect myself from anxiety as I serve
the Lord by faith: “Let me do my part with sincerity and with all my
heart, and leave the rest to God, Who called me to His ministry to do
His part. If He fails to supply me with the necessary means to
implement His will, it is His problem and not mine. Why do I have to
worry for Him when He has the power and the whole world in His hands?”
However, there are times when my faith has been tested until the last
minute.
Someone
said, “The worst evils are those that never arrive.” My point is
why do we anticipate trouble or worry about things that may never
happen? Why worry when we know that God sees the end from the beginning
and the beginning from the end? Why worry when He sees beyond our
moment of disappointments? Anxiety or worry has been identified as one
of the great killers of our time. It causes high blood pressure,
headaches and ulcers, as well as emotional problems like depression,
irritability and burnout. Why do we then choose to worry rather than
trust and obey? Why do we insist on carrying our burden when the Good
Lord is willing to carry our burden? Worry normally controls our lives
whenever we take our eyes off God and focus on our unforeseen troubles.
H. W. Beecher wrote, “When we borrow trouble and look forward into
the future and see what storms are coming and distress ourselves before
they come, as to how we shall avert them if they ever do come, we lose
our proper trustfulness in God. When we torment ourselves with
imaginary dangers, or trials, or reverses, we have already parted with
that perfect love which castes out fear.” |
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As a
ship was sinking at sea, the captain asked the passengers if there were
people who knew how to pray. Only one individual confidently answered,
“I do.” The captain said, “Then, you pray, and the rest of us will put
on the life jackets.” How do we react when we are caught in the middle
of crisis? Do we pray? Or do we sit and worry? If we sometimes feel
that we are in a difficult and life-threatening situation, we need to
know that God may use it for our spiritual growth. God usually uses the
worst to bring out the best in us. The known historian, Charles A.
Beard, was once asked to mention the most important thing that he has
learned in his life’s study from all significant historical events. His
answer was, “When it gets darkest, the stars come out.” It is
natural to assume that God purposely chooses to distant Himself from us
at our difficult moments. However, it is actually this time when He is
most closer to us than at any other time in the past. Let us remember
that we grow the most spiritually when things are getting difficult and
challenging.
Paul
writes to the Philippians urging them to “Be careful for nothing;
but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let
your requests be made known unto God” (Philip. 4:6). One of the
uniquenesses of Paul’s letter to the Philippians is its timing. It was
addressed to the Philippian Church at a critical moment in its history
when persecution, false teaching (by Judiazors), conflict in the church
(between Euodia and Syntyche) and fear and concern about the future of
Paul & Epaphroditus were prevailing. When Paul wrote this letter to
encourage the Philippians, he himself was in a stressful condition and
needed comfort and encouragement. He was in prison, facing possible
execution, defending himself against critics and heretics inside and
outside the church, and yet he seemed to be strangely at peace. Paul’s
main concern was not about himself, but about the Philippian Church and
the glory of God.
When Paul said, “Be careful for nothing,” he does not mean that we
should never be concerned about matters that are important for us. But
instead of worrying, he advises us to tell God everything about our
needs. If we follow and live according to His instructions, worry or
anxiety have no place in our hearts. It is true that for some of us,
since worry has become part of our being, if we stop worrying, we start
to fear that something might be wrong with us. What are we worried
about anyway? Is it not mainly for the unknown future? A little boy
who was afraid of darkness claimed that there was a bear at the corner
of his room. A father who tried to comfort him said, “You know, that is
not a real bear.” The little boy replied, “I know, and that is why I am
afraid of it.” Like this little boy some of us are terrorized by the
unseen future. Though some of our worries are false and unreasonable,
they have the potential to rob our peace of mind which we are entitled
as Christians. We therefore need to learn how to properly handle the
fear of tomorrow. H. W. Beecher writes, r writes, r writes, r writes, r writes, r writes, r writes, r writes, “Every tomorrow has two
handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the
handle of faith.” Therefore, to protect ourselves from anxiety let
us choose to handle the future with the handle of faith. When we commit
our lives to Him by faith, He is always available for us as long as we
are within the realm of His will. |
Cassette
Duplication
Machine
By Sossena Maybury