Yet, I will Rejoice in the Lord!

The following two scripture passages are favorites of mine, because they portray what steadfast faith really looks like. As long as we live under the sun and within the tent of skin called body,we cannot escape anxiety, doubts or despair, when disappointment, failure, and loss come our way.

It is in such times, these scriptures come alive and speak to me what true faith looks like. If I say, I trust in the Lord, then I need to truly trust Him irrespective of the circumstances. For me to do that, I need to be firmly rooted like the tree planted by the river Prophet Jeremiah speaks of, or be like the farmer Habakkuk writes about.

In Jeremiah 17:7-8. the prophet beautifully puts it in the following way.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose hope is the Lord.
For he shall be like a tree
planted by the waters
Which spreads out its roots by the river
And will not fear when heat comes
But its leaf will be green
And will not be anxious in the year of drought
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.


Prophet Habakkuk, who might stand smaller and considered minor in comparison to prophet Jeremiah, goes even higher to illustrate a man of steadfast faith as follows:

Though the fig tree may not blossom
Nor fruit be on the vines
Though the labor of the olive may fail
And the fields yield no food
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold
And there be no herd in the stalls-
Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Habakkuk 3:17-18


In the Message version, Eugene H Peterson paints the above scenerio in our
day an age setting for easy understanding.

Though the cherry trees don't blossom
and the strawberries don't ripen
Though the apples are worm-eaten
and the wheat fields stunted
Though the sheep pens are sheepless
and the cattle barns empty
I'm singing joyful praise to God
I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God.

Can you imagine yourself in the shoes of the farmer who had lost all his crops, sheep, and cattle, yet chooses to not to give into despair, but to rejoice in the Lord instead.

How awesome could that be such faith in God's eyes! Everything you've hoped and worked for to flourish have vanished like an illusion. Yet, the farmer seems unaffected by the turmoil. How? Because that man puts his trust in the Lord and not on the things he possessed.

Jeremiah calls the man blessed, because his hope in not what he has or what he gets in the future; His hope is the Lord. So, when he faces adversity or financial dryness, instead of panicking and wasting his time in worry, he looks up to God with hope. Because he had experienced God's faithfulness in the past, he had learned to face the future with confidence.

What a testimony would it be, when we, who claim to have faith in God display such faith in times of loss and turmoils. I pray that we stand worthy to be called such men and women of faith Jeremiah and Habakkuk write about in their books.***

Worry-The Worm that eats us alive

Worry, just the mention of the word make me weary and mournful. Like a gnawing bad tooth that need to be pulled out ,worry need to be pulled out firm and whole for us to know the joy of living. Life without worry is sure to be wonderful. Yet, we choose to worry. Why? Maybe it has become a second nature to us from the time of the Fall in the garden of Eden.

From the moment, Eve took a bite of the forbidden fruit in the garden, worry entered without permission to displace the joy and contentment she enjoyed with Adam at that place. Worry made her drag Adam along and hide under the bushes to get away from God's sight and wrath. Worry does make us do stupid things and get frantic in panic.

The have- nots worry of not having enough to spend and survive, while those who have, worry about how to secure what they have from losing them.
The homeless worry they don't have a house to call their home, while those housed in mansions worry they have no free time to enjoy the luxury of the houses they've acquired.
The unmarried worry of not getting married at all, while the married worry about how to keep their marriage happy and secure.
The unemployed worry about not finding a job, while the employed worry about keeping the job and toiling long hours.
Some women worry about not getting pregnant, while some others worry when they become pregnant.
Funny it may sound, but it's true that we start to worry when we haven't got anything at all to worry about. It's no secret worry depletes our enthusiasm to enjoy life, drains our energy, degrades our confidence and delay and destroy our opportunity to do anything productive. Still, we give into worry.

So, how do we get out of this menace called worry?
Pray, ponder, prioritize, release and rest.
Pray about everything you fear and worry about.
If you worry about not having enough to make ends meet or about your future, , go to the One who saidl
"For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you."
"What if?" is the question we raise most often and tend  to imagine the worst possible scenerio and starts to worry.

But, if we trace back the record of things we worried about in the past,  we'd  realize that  most of the things we were anxious about hardly came to pass. In vain we had wasted our God given time on worrying, instead of doing something productive. So, the next time the " What if " question strikes you, be courageous enough to slap it with the question, 'So, what?"

As long as we trust in God's goodness and faithfulness, we need not give into the habit of worrying.
"Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Mathew 11:28.

If in doubt, look back on some darkened pages in your life and see whether God had ever failed you.
He may have allowed you to go through some difficult periods, but you survived and came through stronger and better to handle and share your story for others benefits.That should give you the reason not to worry but to rest in the Lord.

Thirdly, we need to learn to prioritize the things in our lives. Stuff and busyness stews worry which in turn morphs into stress. We need God's wisdom to know what is valuable and worthy to spend our time on and distract the unneeded and unworthy activities from our to do list. By doing so, we save time, energy, marriage, family, and store them up for contentment.

Instead of being Worriers, let us prepare ourselves to become Warriors of Prayer and Faith. When we do, we become show pieces of God's faithfulness.***