Thanks For My Situation: Good or Bad.

     Paul wrote to the Philippians from prison yet his tone is incredible positive and full of victory.  Phil. 4:6 “⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”  

         Do you ever worry? Don’t look around and point your finger at someone else. Do you ever worry—even the least little bit? And yet the Bible so clearly tells us not to worry about anything but to pray about everything.

    There are really only two categories of things for which we should never waste an ounce of worry:   First, those things we cannot do anything about and second the things we CAN do something about. The best thing you can say about worry is that it is useless. The worst thing you can say about it is that it dishonors God.

      Worry is the opposite of faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

     So what is the process by which we replace the naturally occurring worry with faith?  We study the character or nature of God.  God who is patiently waiting for people to come to know Him as Lord and Savior (2 Peter 3:9).  Becoming aware of the welcoming heavenly Father who is watching for “prodigals” to come home (Luke 15:11f).

     Sometimes we can get so shocked by the fiery furnace we find ourselves in that we forget the designer who never takes His eyes off of us (Ps. 121:4; 1 Peter 3:12).  2 Chronicles 16:9 says “⁹ For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him”  You got a Loving Father who is keeping His eye on you.  I know there are those reading this who have lost a job, lost their health, or lost a loved one and they are wondering if God has forgotten them.  Isaiah brought a message to the Israelites when they felt alone and forgotten (Is. 49:14-16) “¹⁴ But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;     my Lord has forgotten me.”   ¹⁵ “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?  Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. ¹⁶ Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…”

  Winston Churchill, who led England to fight back against tyranny, knew a lot of worry in his day.  He wrote “When I look back on all the worries I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened.”

    God does have a plan for your life.  He loves you.  He is patient with you. For a follower of Jesus Christ every difficulty has a meaningful purpose to it as well (Rom. 8:28).   The real task is to begin thanking God in the midst of your situation whether it is bad or good and trusting in what you have come to know about His divine character.  As soon as continual praise becomes your habit, your anxiety will be replaced by peace and joy.