I get anxious. I struggle with it a lot and sometimes, it simply gets the better of me. Sometimes it’s work, sometimes it’s family life, and more often than I’d like to admit, it’s about money. That’s not good. As a believer in Jesus, that is not good at all. You know why, don’t you?
When I was a kid, my mother would call me inside at around 6pm because it was dinner time. I’d put up a bit of a fight because I still had a whole lot of play left inside me, but who could say no to such delicious food? Aah, Mom-food! Although I didn’t grow up in a wealthy home, there was always something warm to eat for dinner – no question about it! Warm, delicious and nutritious; thanks mom. Was I ever anxious half way through a game of cops and robbers because maybe, when 6 o’clock rolled around, I might be called inside to be presented with an empty plate? Of course not.
Matthew 7:9 Would any of you who are fathers give your son a stone when he asks for bread?
If I never once doubted my parents’ ability to care for me while I was growing up, why then now, as an adult who has to look after his own family, do I doubt the provision of my Parent? I feel silly just typing this. I feel so convicted. When I worry, I’m telling God I don’t trust Him. Imagine 5 year old Brad counting all the change in his piggy bank and walking to the supermarket to buy some food just in case his mom didn’t make him any dinner? What a strange concept! That’s sort of what I’m telling God when I worry. I’m suggesting He can’t take care of me. I’m telling Him that I think I could do a better job. Do a better job than the Creator of the Universe? Nice one, Brad! How foolish do you look right now?!
So when I’m anxious or fearful, I’m suggesting that his title as my Father is questionable; that His position as Jehovah Jireh (Genesis 22:14) is one with which I don’t agree and that the testimonies of God’s goodness in my life up to this point have been forgotten. I can’t even read what I’ve just written without feeling ashamed! I don’t feel that way at all, yet my thoughts and behavior would suggest otherwise.
This means something has to change. That something is me. I need an attitude adjustment and that will come from remembering my own testimonies and searching God’s Word for those of others. And then there are those words, straight from the mouth of God, that need to remind us, redirect us, and fill us with the kind of hope that simply says: “Hey fear! Get the hell out of here!”
