John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” This episode talks about how we can listen to the Lord and not let our hearts be troubled. It talks about why we worry and how we can stop once and for all! Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The Power of God Lives Inside You
John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.”
Man, we would be rich if we had a $1.00 ever time God told us not to let our hearts be troubled, to not be anxious, or not to worry. So, why is that so dang hard for us to do? Why is it so hard for us not to worry? It seems we are in a constant state of worry these days. We worry about the state of the economy, we worry about the government, we worry about COVID, we worry about what is going on in other countries. We can’t seem to help ourselves from worrying. I think this is exactly what the enemy wants. He wants us to think of all the ways that things could go wrong. I wonder what our days would feel like if we turned the tables on all this worry? I wonder how we would feel if instead of spending all this time worrying about what might go wrong, we focused our attention on what could go right?
Now, I am not talking about being a Polly Anna or a Ms. Suzy Sunshine and always just looking at the positive things in life. I am not living in a fantasy world where everything just always works out and everyone is always happy. I wish I lived in that world. I was just telling my friend on the phone last night that I wish we lived in a world where disease wasn’t a thing that existed and everybody was nice. No one invaded any one, we just all got along. I know that is not possible this side of heaven and I am not suggesting it is. What I am suggesting is that we take control of our thoughts. This is something else the enemy doesn’t want you to know, but you can be in control of your thoughts. I know it doesn’t feel like it sometimes, but you can. It isn’t always easy, and it may take a lot of work, but isn’t it worth it if you didn’t feel anxious or worried all the time. We feel anxious and worried when we are not living in the present. There is no anxiety in the present moment, everything just is as it is.
However, if we start thinking about things that have happened in the past, or things that may happen in the future, this is where we can get anxious and worried. Eighty-five percent of the things we worry about never happen. Eighty-five percent! I know this number sounds high, but if you sit and really think about the things you worry about, how many of them actually happened? Not many right? Why is this? Why are we so worried and tuned into all the things that may go wrong? I don’t know the answer to that. If I had to guess I would say it is because the media is reminding us of all that may happen. They like to throw out their speculations and their ideas because if you are worried about what might happen then you will be tuning into their show to see if it is happening. We also tend to be a people who like to guess at the outcome of an even. Have you ever sat next to someone watching a TV show and they are constantly guess what is going to happen next in the show? We do this in real life too. We want to be the one to know what will happen next.
The problem with this is that stress and worry are not good for you, mentally or physically. Stress can cause some of these physical symptoms: a faster heartbeat, fatigue, headaches, inability to concentrate, irritability, nervous energy, rapid breathing or shortness of breath, and many others. If you have chronic stress you can suffer from: suppression of the immune system, digestive disorders, muscle tension, short-term memory loss, premature coronary artery disease or heart attacks as well. So often I hear people say that they can’t help it that they worry, it is just who they are. I know I say this a lot, but that is what the enemy wants you to think. He wants you to think that there is nothing you can do about this worrying. That you have to feel like this all the time. It is part of you just as is your eye color or your age. This is not true. You do not have to worry or be anxious all the time. You can change if you want to.
When it comes to thinking about what might happen in the future I ask myself two questions. First, can I change the outcome? For instance, if I am worried about my children growing up to be responsible adults I ask myself, “Can I do anything to change this outcome?” In this circumstance, I would say yes. If I work on teaching them to be responsible children, then I could have an affect on the outcome. In this case, instead of focusing on my thoughts of worry, I focus on my actions that I can do to help achieve the outcome that I want. I still may wonder if they will grow up to be responsible adults, but I don’t worry about it because I know I am already doing all I can to affect that outcome. The rest is up to them and to God. However, what if there isn’t anything I can do to affect the outcome. For instance, many are worried about where this country is headed and what is the future of this country. I would ask myself, is there anything I can do to change the outcome of this event? There is not much I can do at the moment. I can make sure to do my part when it comes to voting or to being environmentally conscientious but other than that, there is not much I can do. If this is the case, I do not spend a lot of energy thinking about things that I can’t change. I pray about them, I turn the over to God and then I focus my energy and my thoughts on those things that are in my control.
This verse says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” If we believe in God and we believe in Jesus, then we know they are looking out for us. We don’t have to know everything that will happen in the future, God will take care of those details as He always does. If we don’t want to worry all the time, we have to protect our thoughts. It’s not that we can’t ever worry about something, we will all have things that we worry about. The key is to recognize those thoughts and then turn them over to the Lord, In 2 Corinthians 10:5 it says, “…and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” We have this power! We are children of God. When we notice our thoughts are starting to make us anxious we can capture them and turn them over to the Lord. Just say something to yourself like, “Jesus I capture this thought and I turn it over to you. Jesus I trust in you.” Then tell yourself that you have handed it over and you are not going to think about it anymore and direct your thoughts elsewhere. I know even though this sounds simple, it is not easy. However, I promise you, if you give it a try, it will get easier and easier. If nothing fruitful is coming form your worry, then release it. God doesn’t want that for you. Think of who benefits from you feeling worried, anxious, scared, depressed, and hopeless? It is not the Lord. In 2 Timothy 1:7 it says, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of self-control.” God did not give us this spirit of fear, but He did give us a spirit of power and love and self-control. Why are we choosing the spirit of fear that is from the enemy instead of the spirit that the Lord Himself gave us? The Lord is constantly telling us not to be anxious and worried, when are we finally going to listen? When are we finally going to say, “Not today Satan,” and fight back against his spirit of fear? You have the power of God inside you. Romans 8:11 says, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.” When will we decide to use this power? When will we decide we want to be free once and for all from this spirit of fear? I think today seems like a good day, how about you?
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those who are listing to this episode. Lord, help us to protect our thought and turn over to you any that are making us anxious and nervous. We want to follow your instructions Lord, to not let our hearts be troubled we need your help. Lord, there is a lot that we could be nervous about in this world, however, we know you are our Lord and Savior. Help us to trust in that and to not worry about the things of this world. Help us to stay in the present moment. There is no worry or anxiety there. Help us to not stay in the past or the present too long. We love you Lord, you are so amazing. We know you are in control and we don’t want to worry all the time. Help us to be grateful for all you do for us and to see that you will keep doing it. You are so amazing and we know this, so help us remember this when we start to worry. We love you and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Remember to listen this Wednesday for our first ever “Witness Wednesday.” You are going to love the story of how Peggy has witnessed God’s love throughout her adult life and the amazing things He did for her. I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow. Have a blessed day!