Wednesday, 4 September 2024

The Word 4!

The Word 4!

Psalm 94:19 AMPC
[19] In the multitude of my [anxious] thoughts within me, Your comforts cheer and delight my soul!

As I read the entire chapter from where the verse above is taken, you sense the writer as someone who disliked wickedness. He had seen the effect and impact of wickedness in the land, and he wanted God to step in. It seemed that the wicked were thriving and doing well, while the righteous were being hounded to death. However, it takes a man who has had a personal experience of God to know who He is, what He stands for and what He is capable of. Let the entire world burn; it does not change who God is, neither will He lower the standard for anyone. Let the entire world turn its back on God; it still would not diminish His power, authority and reach in any way. It is just a human thing for us to fret over the things that we cannot control. When things do not go according to plan, or even when it seems that people are deliberately frustrating you, there is a place for me to approach the God to whom all of creation answers. 

In the multitude of my anxious thoughts, I need to know that I have a God who is very interested in my good, whether present or future. Even Jesus's first Sermon on the Mount featured a portion on anxiety, and why it does no good. I cannot change one hair of my head, or accurately predict what will happen in the next 60 seconds, so it is totally pointless to have anxiety over things you cannot control. The prescription for anxiety, as Jesus laid it out clearly, is to let God have it all. If I know I cannot change anything, it is utter foolishness to keep holding on to anything. Why not let the One who made, formed, placed and equipped me for His own purpose work it out in the best way He can? The anxious thoughts may be many, and indeed there could be many issues that weigh upon the heart, but do not let them linger; they will deprive you of joy, and keep you focused on the size of the problem, rather than the size, scope, power and personality of the solution, who is Jesus Himself. 

The comfort of the Lord is offered to all who will take advantage of it. There is a comfort that God gives that can deal with any kind of burden. The world's comfort is usually tied to possessions, position, power or privilege, but God's comfort is a reflection of His person, power and personality. He does not give the way the world does, which is that you have to give something precious in order to get what the world offers, and unfortunately, what you get from the world is nothing compared with what you get from God. God is interested in the welfare of both my body and my soul, and that is why His own comforts will cheer and delight my soul. The world can never make or meet such an offer, even though it will make false claims that it can. The one place by which God declares and sustains His offer of comfort is by His Word. Familiarise yourself with the Word; the mind and counsel of God is made plain in His Word. Nobody and nothing else can give you or sustain rhat which the Word can give you. God's time of favour is here.

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