Stress Is Sin

Spurgeon with Fioa commentary.

“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.” Psalm 55:22

Care (anxiety) even though exercised upon legitimate objects, if carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin.  (We tend to excuse this sin as we think anxiety too hard to be rid of.  However, it’s the essence of unbelief to allow this trait to dominate our minds.)

The very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God!  We attempt to think of that which we fancy He will forget and we labor to take upon ourselves our weary burden as if He were unable or unwilling to take it for us.  (Think carefully on the continuation of this hard truth expressed by Spurgeon!!)

He who cannot calmly leave his affairs in God’s hand, but will carry his own burden, is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself.  This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counselor, and resorting instead to human wisdom.  Anxiety makes us doubt God’s lovingkindness, and thus our love to Him grows cold; we feel mistrust, and thus grieve the Spirit of God so that our prayers become hindered, our consistent example marred, and our life one of self-seeking.  Want of confidence in God leads us to wander far from Him.  Through simple faith in His promise, we cast each burden as it comes upon Him, and are “careful (anxious; full of care; troubled; all those emotions that give us a joyless countenance and thus dishonor God) for nothing”  (that means no stress about ANYTHING—WOW!!  Hmmmm-impossible?  I don’t think so!  Not if we believe what we say we believe!  So now to continue with Spurgeon…)  “careful for nothing” because He undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to Him, and strengthen us against much temptation.  “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee.” (end of Spurgeon)  Or put another way…GOD will give and give and keep giving perfect peace (that’s a mouthful there… “perfect peace”!  I want it!) to those who keep their minds on Him because they TRULY trust Him!  Truly trust!!  Freefall!  I know God is there.  I don’t see Him but I know without a shadow of a doubt that He IS and is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.  The reward?  Perfect peace!  Not perfect circumstances…perfect peace.  And thus, glory to God!

"Frail Vessels On a Rough Sea"

“The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.”  Psalm 138:8

Here again a gem excerpted from Morning and Evening, some of it reworded slightly:

The Psalmist here expresses DIVINE confidence!  NOT “I have grace” or “my faith is steady” or “my love warm” or “my resolution firm”.  NO!  His dependence was on the Lord ALONE.  If we allow any confidence that is not grounded on the Rock Of Ages, our confidence is worse than a dream; it will fall on us and cover us with its ruins, to our sorrow and confusion.  God began the work in us; it is HE who must finish it or it will never be completed.  If there be one stitch in the “celestial garment” of our own righteousness which we are to insert ourselves, then we are lost!   Ah! yes, we should indeed perish if left to our own strength.  If we had alone to navigate our frail vessels over so rough a sea, we might well give up the voyage in despair; but, thanks be to God, He will perfect that which concerneth us, and bring us to the desired haven. 

Eclipse of Faith

The following post is an excerpt from Charles Spurgeon's, Morning and Evening, May 22-Morning, reworded slightly:
"They cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distress.  He led them also by a straight way, to go to an inhabited city." Psalm 107: 6 & 7
Change often leads the anxious believer to ask, "Why is it this way with me?  I look for light but find darkness; for peace, but I see trouble.  Lord you hide Your face and I am troubled.  Today I cannot see and my hopes are covered with clouds.  I have no hope, just fear; no joy, just distress.  Is this part of Your plan for me?  Is this the way toward heaven?"

Yes, it is so.  The eclipse of your faith, the darkness of your mind, the fainting of your hope, all these things are but parts of God's method of making you ripe for the great inheritance upon which you shall soon enter.  These trials are for the testing and strengthening of your faith--they are waves that wash you further upon the rock--they are winds which take your ship more quickly towards the desired destination.  Think not, believer, that your sorrows are out of God's plan; they are necessary parts of it.

"O let my trembling soul be still, and wait Thy wise, Thy holy will!  I cannot, Lord, Thy purpose see, yet all is well since ruled by Thee."

Be Still?

Being still is painful for me.   Yes, PAINFUL!  Some part of me must always be moving.  I remember coming upon the verse, "Be still and know that I am God."  (Psalm 46:10) as a new believer and thinking, "wow!  That's a hard one."

But to be still is very important when it comes to having conversation with God.  It says, "Be still and KNOW".   We get silent and think about all we know about God as revealed to us through His word.  It's an exercise, but a mental one!  And we must stop what we are doing and pray about God to God.  Rehearse God to Himself.  Remember all that you know to be true; think hard about all the truth you've shared with others about Him.  Rest in these sweet moments of what's really true and drink freely and deeply.  Rest there for a time.  Pressures you've built up will begin to fall into their rightful place: His Hands.  He is the one guiding us and everything else.  Trust Him alone with this burden.  

Be still!  And Know that I AM GOD!

Ms. Fix-it

A loose hair on a black sweater; a collar that is uneven; a tag sticking out of the back neck of a t-shirt: these insignificant aesthetic issues disturb me.  They must be fixed, and I’m  just the one to do it.  I look at it as unsought kindness, a favor that I do for the world.  Not that I’m a bold person, but I feel it to be my duty to let people know (that is unless I can fix it without their knowledge).  A few more off the short list would be lipstick on the tooth, an attached hair out of place (obvious place), an out of control nose hair (this one I admit is reserved only for family…if you’re not my family, you’re on your own), a dark smudge on the forehead (yes, it was a complete stranger who was clothes shopping in the same department as I.  And I’m here to say, I do now know about Ash Wednesday!)

Fixing things is just my nature.  I don’t like for things to be amiss!  When it comes to people whose lives are out of whirl, the pressure increases in my world.  It gets very hard to bear.  However, God does not put that pressure on us.  We most of the time do it to ourselves.  He has given to us the greatest privilege in the world at our fingertips: ask God.  He did not intend for us to fix the world.  That is impossible.  Yes, it is broken, but we can’t fix it.  Jesus already made that provision.  And we do have responsibility to “bear one another's burdens” and to “pray without ceasing”.  But to try to fix everybody that’s broken in our world is not possible.     

"For nothing is impossible with God."  We are to go to the God of all creation with all our burdens and the burdens of others.  James says, “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”  The two adjectives in that verse are such that we can expect results.  God transforms, changes, makes new, “fixes”.  He does indeed use us and He will lead us when the time comes.  It is “our reasonable service.”  But it is not a list we grab and get to work on.  It is a privilege given by God as we seek Him.

Scripture References in order: Galatians 6:2;  1 Thessalonians 5:17; Luke 1:37 (also in Matthew 19:26)  James 5:16; Romans 12:1.

Faith and Trouble

"You must believe in order to see instead of seeing in order to believe."  I heard this a very long time ago.  It always comes to my mind when life get tough.  I don't recall whose quote it is but it came to mind as I read a devotion by Charles Spurgeon about faith and believing.  Charles Spurgeon has been a wonderful mentor in my walk as a believer.  Life may be pressing down but his words help lift me back up!  His sweet reminders, always drawn from the Word, are for me a "life preserver" that you grab and hang on as you pray for strength.  I'll share a few.

Hebrews 11:13  "These all died in faith."  "Behold the epitaph of all those blessed saints who fell asleep before the coming of the Lord!  It matters nothing how else they died, whether by old age, or by violent means; this one point, in which they all agree, is the most worthy of record, "they all died in faith."  In faith they lived--it was their comfort, their guide, their motive, and their support; and in the same spiritual grace they died, ending their life-song in the sweet strain in which they had so long continued.  They did not die resting in the flesh or upon their own attainments; they made no advance from their first way of acceptance with God, but held to the way of faith to the end...  Take courage, my soul, as thou readest this epitaph.  Thy course, through grace, is one of faith, and sight seldom cheers thee:  this has also been the path of the brightest and best.

John 16:33  "In the world ye shall have trouble."  (I will slightly paraphrase this one.)  Do you know what foes you have beneath your feet?  You were once a servant of Satan, and no king will willingly lose his subjects.  Do you think that Satan will leave you alone?  NO, he will always be at you, for he goes around like a roaring lion, seeking to "chew you to pieces".  Expect trouble, therefore, Christian, when you look around you.  LOOK around you.  Where are you?  You are in enemy country, a stranger and a traveler.  The world is not your friend.  If it is, then you are not God's friend,  for he who is the friend of the world is an enemy of God...  Look also within you, into your own heart. and observe what is there.  Sin and self are still within.  Even if you had no devil to tempt you, no enemies to fight you, and no world to entangle you, you would still find in yourself evil enough to be a pain, for "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked."  Expect trouble then, but do no despair on account of it, for God is with you to help and strengthen you.  He said, "I will be with you in trouble; I will deliver you and honor you.  I will overcome the world."