Count It All Joy

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials (James 1:2).

Trials come in various shapes and sizes, ranging from minor disappointment to major trauma.

The natural human response to such trials is built in to our bodies. When threatened by trouble, we are flooded with adrenalin which prepares us to fight or flee. Anger and fear go with the territory. Often trials can bring discouragement or depression in their wake. 

The Apostle James was well aware of all this and yet he urges us to count it all joy. Humanly speaking, this seems impossible. But the grace of God in Christ enables us to rise above our natural human responses.

The key to understanding what James means is the word “count” which, in the original Greek, means to reckon or evaluate. In other words, when we find ourselves facing a trying situation we need to evaluate it from God’s perspective, or in the light of his higher purpose for our lives. What is this higher purpose? Trials, according to Scripture, are the tools God uses to form us into the image of Christ. Thus something very important and Christ-like is happening to us when we experience trials -- and that we can count as joy.

A trial is never pleasant. But properly evaluated, the results of the trial under God’s hand are truly an occasion for rejoicing. God is working for our good even in the midst of painful circumstances. Let us ask God for the grace to count it all joy.

Praying to the Father in Secret

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

                                                Matthew 6:6

It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of prayer in the Christian life. If we neglect it, we do so at great cost ourselves. As the hymn writer put it:

                  O what peace we often forfeit,

                  O what needless pain we bear,

                  All because we do not carry

                  Everything to God in prayer.

In the Sermon On the Mount Jesus gave us some very simple but essential instructions about prayer.

First: when you pray go into your room. Every Christian needs a special place where they can commune with God in prayer. It could be a bedroom or a corner of the house. The point is, it becomes a sacred space set aside for you and God.

Second: shut the door. This means we need to be free from distractions. Most of us are constantly bombarded with noise. This noise pollution prevents us from hearing the still, small voice of God and experiencing the gentle stirrings of his Spirit. We need to “shut the door” on this noise and bathe our souls in silence.

Third: pray to your Father who is in secret. How wonderful that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, cares for us, and knows what we need even before we ask. He desires nothing more than that we should come to him with child like faith and pour out our hearts to him in secret.

If we take these three simple steps, says Jesus, our Father who sees in secret will reward us. God cannot always give us what we want in the way we want it, but he always rewards those who pray with blessing upon blessing. To fail to pray is to forfeit the blessings. Prayer is not a burdensome duty but a joyful, rewarding privilege. May we never neglect it.

OVERCOMING ANXIETY PART 3: "Prescription for Peace"

Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

In our first meditation on overcoming anxiety we saw that anxiety is a toxic emotion that none of us can afford to indulge in. Then in our second meditation we saw that, thanks be to God, there is an antidote to anxiety: the peace of God which passes all understanding. The question remaining to be addressed is: how can I, in a very practical way, experience the peace of God in stressful times?

Fortunately, Paul provides us with a simple, step-by-step method for experiencing God’s peace:

Step 1: “Have no anxiety about anything;” that is, recognize the presence of anxiety in your heart and prepare to deal with it at once. Sometimes it can be very helpful to list everything you've been stressing about on a piece of paper.

Step 2: “In everything by prayer and supplication … let your requests be made known to God;” that is, turn your anxiety into prayer. Go down your list and make each item the subject of a simple, direct prayer. Be as specific as possible. For example: “God, I am worried about my son because (fill in the blank) and I put his well-being in your loving hands.”

Step 3: “With thanksgiving.” Heartily thank God for hearing and answering your prayer. Do not neglect this step. Gratitude is a powerful spiritual weapon in the battle against anxiety.

The result? Scripture’s promises that the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds in Christ.

Sound too simple to be true? Here’s how it works.

Everything you are anxious about is like a heavy stone in a canvas bag you are carrying on your back. The more things you are worried about the more you will be weighed down and crushed by the load. As you turn these “stones” into prayers, you are putting them into God’s hand and allowing Him to do the heavy lifting. Thus you empty your bag of stones and lighten your load.

But what if I pick the stones back up again? Most likely you will at first. Simply go back to step 1 and repeat the process – again and again if necessary. Remember: this is a spiritual discipline that takes practice. But be assured that the more you practice these principles, the more you will overcome anxiety and experience the wonderful peace of God.

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OVERCOMING ANXIETY PART 2: "The Antidote for Anxiety"

Have no anxiety about anything, 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 keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

In our last post we saw that anxiety is one of the most destructive of human emotions. It is toxic and wreaks havoc on us – spirit, soul and body. Hence Scripture exhorts us: do not be anxious about anything.

The good news is that there is an antidote to this poisonous emotion: the peace of God.

It’s important to understand that the peace of God is not a humanly manufactured state of mind. The peace of God, insists Paul,  surpasses all understanding; that is, the unaided human mind cannot comprehend it nor attain it. Rather, it is God’s own peace, a heavenly peace, imparted by the Holy Spirit to one’s innermost self.

Nor is the peace of God the mere absence of stress, like the calming of a lake after the wind stops blowing. That is nothing more than the relief that comes from a change of circumstance. The peace of God, rather, keeps us rooted, grounded and calm in the midst of the storm -- while the wind is still blowing! That truly is beyond understanding.

This peace, says Paul, keeps our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. The word keeps, which is translated guards in some translations, is a military term. It means that the peace of God is like a garrison, a mighty fortress that shields and protects. Specifically, it guards both our hearts (our deepest personal center) and our minds (our thought life) in Christ Jesus.

How wonderful it is to know, then, that there is an antidote for the anxiety that can so easily overwhelm us. The question is: how can I experience the peace of God on a practical, everyday level?

Fortunately, Paul answers that question for us and it will be the subject of our next One Minute Meditation. So stay tuned.

OVERCOMING ANXIETY PART 1: IS WORRY STRANGLING YOU?

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Our age has aptly been called the “Age of Anxiety”. How important, then, that we listen to the Apostle Paul’s inspired words to the Philippians: do not be anxious about anything. These words are challenging in the extreme. No anxiety? About anything? When was the last time you spent an entire day or even a few hours without experiencing anxiety?

These words are not intended to impose an impossible burden on us, but rather to spare us a great deal of unnecessary suffering.

Few emotions are more destructive than anxiety. The Greek word translated ‘anxious’ in our English Bible means to be pulled in different directions – not a pleasant experience! And our English word, worry, literally means to seize by throat and strangle. That’s a vivid picture of how anxiety works. It chokes the life out of us -- physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Not only is anxiety destructive, it’s also fruitless. Our worrying and fretting accomplishes nothing. As Jesus observed, Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matthew 6:27)

The vast majority of things we worry about never come to pass or are about things we are powerless to change. It has been estimated, in fact, that only about 8% of our worries have any actual foundation in reality. Most of our anxiety, then, is as fruitless as paying interest on a debt that in all probability will never come due.

Maybe it’s time to get serious about this whole business of anxiety. Our lives will be dramatically improved if we do. So stay tuned ... there’s more to come.

On Blessing God

Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits (Psalm 103:1-2).

We are forever asking God to bless us. We ask him to bless our families, our meals, and our many plans and endeavors. Bless us, O Lord is without a doubt one of the most frequent and popular of prayers. But the psalmist has a different outlook. He doesn’t ask God to bless him; rather, addressing his own soul, he reminds himself to bless God.

But how can a mere mortal bless God? What can we give to the Creator of Heaven and Earth?

Just as the smallest child can bless its parents, so also we can bless our Heavenly Father. Each one of us has unique gifts to offer God: our love, our gratitude, and our praise. When we offer these gifts to God we are blessing the Lord.

It’s all well and good that we seek God’s blessing on our lives and endeavors. Indeed, it’s imperative that we do so. But let us never forget the psalmist’s exhortation to bless the Lord with all that s within us.