These Are Worrying Times

 

    

Charlie Brown, the cartoon character, said, "Sometimes you lie in bed at night and you don't have a single thing to worry about. That always worries me."

 

      As humans, we never seem to be without something to worry about. Like Charlie said, when you feel like you have nothing to worry about, even that worries you. Sheesh, mankind worries so much most of the time that we rarely enjoy this "fleeting" life. The fleeting part worries them. The future worries them. The past worries them. Worrying worries them. Life is flat out hand-wringing due to all the worrying. 

 

     Worrying can upset your stomach. Worrying can destroy the best made plans. Worrying can and will make you hesitate to do things - good or bad. Worrying can turn the good things into bad things, but never will it turn bad things into good.

 

     Jesus talked about worry five times in the Bible in Matthew. Matthew 6:25-27 NIV:

"Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothes? 

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

     He knew the susceptibility of humans to fret and worry. Always there with needed directions in his teachings. How he nimbly broke life into easily managed and understood parts are a thing of beauty. Therefore, he made the cure of worrying simple: don't do it.

 

     What? You can't just stop worrying - can you? If you believe yourself to be a disciple of our Lord, believe all his words, don't pick and choose. Who gave you or anyone else the authority to dissect the Bible into tiny pieces that you personally excuse yourself from when it creates inconvenience? The whole is more than the sum of its parts, never more so than in the case of the Bible. Doing those things are the modus operandi of Satan. We modern Christians act like Judaizers at times, tearing Jesus' teachings into self-serving parts. If you take a single piece of a car engine and say, "It doesn't work," of course it doesn't work. Where are the rest of the parts required to make an engine work?

 

     Jesus points out the futility of worry. You see the birds flying around with no money, no jobs, and no hands to prepare food, yet, most live quite well. Naturally, like humans, they are subject to the dangers and tribulations of life. They die from disease, weather, accidents, and predators - just as we humans do. The difference is that we have been promised eternal life through faith in our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Remember, Brothers and Sisters, He defeated death. If we die, and we just might, he has promised to raise us to eternal life. Any other religion promise anything like that? That's because we have faith in the one true God of Israel, who is, was, and forever shall be.

 

     The point is: if you are doing something counterproductive and life-threatening, why continue doing it? Our Lord said, stop doing it. That means you can indeed stop doing it through faith in him. You say you have faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Start acting like it, and faithfully practice laying it all at his feet, that's exactly what he wants. Our God is in charge of everything! He is teaching some crazy good lessons to the believers and non-believers during this turbulent point in history. Feel secure, feel comforted, and feel the strength from all these wild events around us for we are the children of the one and only God most high, the God that created all, the God that is, was, and forever shall be, and, definitely, the One in charge!

 

     Yes, the Middle East is in danger of exploding into WW III, Iran is close to having nukes, the Houthis are complicating things, Hezbollah is attacking Israel and works for Iran, Russia and Ukraine are in a full-blown conflict that involves NATO, China - well, any country with a modern and huge military costing mega bucks daily has to make use of it; for China, it's world domination; for the U.S. it's being the world policeman, for Israel it's defending itself while surrounded by what seems like a hundred Muslim countries with written manifestos proclaiming genocide against Jews and Christians as their ultimate goal. The United States streets are filled in many areas by pro-Palestinian protestors. If Trump gets re-elected, the streets of many large cities will be filled with BLM, LBTQ, pro-Palestinians, and many college students that seem to suffer no ill effects from missing classes constantly. If Biden gets re-elected, Civil War could be on the agenda. How can Jesus instruct us not to worry?

 

     Our God loves Israel and the Jews in spite of all the horrible rejections they have poured out against him. In his loving grace, he built a land filled with the world's poor and persecuted, faithful to him to be Israel's best friend. He made this land powerful. One of their submarines could totally destroy Iran. God gave Israel's friend the power to annihilate all of Israel's enemies, as well as all of its own enemies that are enemies of peace and freedom. This friend of Israel gives needed supplies to her to lift her up as our Lord is in charge. Our God, who uses the earth as his footstool, is not to be trifled with.

 

 

 

 

     Over two thousand years ago, when Jesus walked the earth proclaiming the Good News, the Romans had carte blanche authority to beat, behead, stab, crush, and do whatever sadistic thing they personally felt necessary or derived enjoyment from to keep the peace in their dominions which included the land Jesus lived within. Outside the Roman-controlled lands, things were not close to that pleasant. Today life is paradise compared to that time.

 

     In the U.S. wealthy athletes, musicians, politicians, and corporate CEOs talk about the horrible conditions of their lives and the lives of the so-called poor. Seriously? Where do they get off bad-mouthing life? How much of their wealth have they distributed to the poor? Jesus told us when someone asks, give without expectation of return.

 

     Those people don't have what we have - faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Listening to them is one of the major causes of worry. We have our Lord's proclamation and evidence that he conquered death. He told us thousands of years ago how corrupt and fallen this world is. Through him, we are blessed with the grace of our Father, the one true God of Israel. We are cleansed and forgiven, lifted up through and by that divine grace to, at some point, enter the actual kingdom of heaven.

 

     Knowing our Lord has defeated death, we should proceed through life boldly and fearlessly, as the disciples did after the resurrection.

 

We are to go without worry to spread the Good News. The kingdom of God is here! He has prepared a spiritual feast for his faithful. Do not worry or fear anything but God, for our God is truly the one true God of Israel.

 

1,000 Israeli Musicians calling to bring the hostages home:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aIyZnFbOu0