In our posting on Wednesday, 16 November we had a look at the Lord’s care for us. Apart from the Lord fighting on our behalf, we have many promises of the Lord’s care for us.
“Psalms 55:22: Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. 1Peter 5:7: Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Philippians 4:6, 7: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, 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.”
I realise this is not a popular teaching, for generally we want to feel comfortable. We’d like to believe the Lord made these promises because He loves us and would like to see us prosper. There is, however, much evidence in the Bible that those who obey the Lord will suffer much, so how do we bring these together. The key is in the passage in Matthew 5:31, 33: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” The Lord is first of all concerned about His Kingdom. We should be busy building relationship with Him (seeking His righteousness) and with winning souls and teaching and supporting each other (seeking His Kingdom).
Our purpose is not to gather comfort for ourselves (Matthew 6:19, 20) or to run to the Lord for comfort when troubles get in our way toward earthly comfort. To the Lord it is all about building His Kingdom. The enemy of God, Satan’s purpose is to hinder exactly that. He’ll make every effort to bombard our lives with cares and worries in order to distract us from our primary purpose – a healthy relationship with the Lord and a productive life as a servant of the Lord.
I speak from personal experience and am sure you’ll identify with this. Trouble at work or home, spouse trouble, circumstantial oppression, financial circumstances, temptations and sin, etc. are brought our way to keep our minds busy, to let us ponder and worry, making us introspective and before we see another unproductive day is over. What did it accomplish? It managed to turn our focus away from the Lord and His Kingdom onto ourselves and our circumstances.
This is why the Lord offered to take care of our circumstances and our anxieties, for if we leave it to Him to sort out, we’ll be free to obey His commands and make the Kingdom grow. We therefore need to consciously redirect our thoughts back to Kingdom issues and prayer and constantly cast cares on the Lord, for distractions will not stop, which is why Philippians 4:6 mention prayer, petitioning or supplication and thanksgiving. Whenever a concern returns to cloud my mind, I just say: “Thank you, Lord, you’re dealing with it. So where was I in my intercession for others?”
Lord, it’s all about your Kingdom. Please help us to be effective.
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