Part 12 (1/2)

-1 PETER 5:6-7 It is important that we learn to humble ourselves and cast our care on the Lord. We shouldn't struggle to believe that G.o.d wants us to lay all of our concerns at the foot of the cross, when He so clearly has told us in His Word to do exactly that.

The word casting refers to throwing, hurling, arising, sending, striking, thrusting, driving out, or expelling-all rather forceful terms. It seems to be difficult for some of us to believe that G.o.d considers worry or care a sin. So we may actually have to become spiritually violent about casting our care upon the Lord and abiding in the secret place of the Most High, under the shadow of the Almighty.

It literally took me years to be set totally free from the burden of guilt and condemnation. I knew mentally and spiritually that I had been made the righteousness of G.o.d in Christ because of what He had done for me on Calvary, but I still had a hard time accepting it and living in it emotionally. The devil kept attacking my feelings, making me feel guilty and condemned. I worried about my past-how could I ever overcome it? I fought against those thoughts for years until finally I got fed up. I told the devil, ”No! I am not going to believe your lies! Jesus has made me the righteousness of G.o.d, and I have made up my mind that I am going to have what He died to give me!”

I knew from the Bible that I had been made right with G.o.d through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. I was doing my best to keep my mind set on all that Jesus had sacrificed for me. I confessed scriptures, but the enemy still attacked my mind and my feelings until there arose in me a holy anger that finally set me free.

I became angry enough to rise up against the princ.i.p.alities, powers, and wickedness in high places that tried to keep me from enjoying all the blessings G.o.d intended for me. Too often, we get mad at other people when our anger should be directed to the source of the problem-the devil and his demons.

Just as anger at Satan can be a form of righteous violence, so can casting our care on the Lord. We can resist Satan, worry and anxiety, and guilt and condemnation, until we get so fed up that we react with a holy anger. When he tries to force us to carry a burden of care, we can stop him in his tracks and say, ”No! I will not carry that care. I am casting it upon the Lord!”

Every one of us has certain spiritual issues that must be settled once and for all. We need to cast on the Lord whatever issues we may have that hinder us from walking in the fullness of joy, peace, and rest the Lord intends for us.

Peter says to cast your cares on G.o.d. The Greek word translated care in 1 Peter 5:7 means ”to draw in different directions; to distract.” Why does the devil give us care? His whole purpose is to distract us from our fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d. When the enemy tries to lay problems on us, we have the privilege of taking those problems and casting them on G.o.d. If you throw them, G.o.d catches them and takes them away. G.o.d knows how to wipe away the cares that Satan lays on you.

G.o.d has provided two wonderful weapons you can use to overcome the devil's plan. First, you humble yourself, turning yourself totally over to G.o.d. Then when the devil tries to burden you with worry or some other heavy load, you cast it on G.o.d-who is happy to take it away because He cares for you.

As I've thought about worry, I've also figured out that it's an act of pride on our part. Those who worry still think they can solve their own problems. Isn't that pride? Aren't we saying, ”I can work this out by myself”? Those who are proud or full of themselves still think they are strong and can defeat their problems themselves. The truly humble are those who know their weaknesses, but in their weaknesses, they know their strength is in Jesus Christ.

Paul understood that and wrote to the Corinthians: ”But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

We fail G.o.d when we insist on shouldering our burdens instead of giving them to the Lord. Only G.o.d can deliver us, and He wants us to know that. In every situation, He wants us to first humble ourselves and then throw off the cares and worries the devil tries to lay on us. It is possible-in fact, it's an order. I want to encourage you to place yourself totally into G.o.d's hands and allow Him to be the Manager of your life.

Dear Lord Jesus, I thank You. Even before the problems come, You have told me how to defeat the enemy of my mind. You have also given me Your own example of defeating him. In Your name, Lord Jesus, teach me to humble myself and to cast all my cares and concerns on You. Amen.

70.

Holy Fear Then Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself [determinedly, as his vital need] to seek the Lord; he proclaimed a fast in all Judah. And Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord [yearning for Him with all their desire]. . . . Did not You, O our G.o.d, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend? . . . O our G.o.d, will You not exercise judgment upon them? For we have no might to stand against this great company that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.

-2 CHRONICLES 20:3-4, 7, 12 By the time Jehoshaphat became the king, Judah was a small nation, and the surrounding nations could easily defeat them. We learn that the king brought in many reforms. The Bible records that and then says, ”After this, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and with them the Meunites came against Jehoshaphat to battle” (20:1).

The most ”sensible” thing would have been for the king to surrender and to forge some kind of treaty. There was no human way that such a small nation could defeat such large armies. In that context, we read that the king was afraid-and why wouldn't he be? But he didn't stop with fear.

I want to make this point clear. To feel fear isn't sin or failure or disobedience. In fact, we do well to think of fear as a warning to us. It's a shout of danger.

But then we must decide what to do with the fear. We can act; we can cringe; we can ignore it. King Jehoshaphat did the right thing: He ”set himself [determinedly, as his vital need] to seek the Lord” (v. 3). He didn't have answers, and he certainly wasn't stupid enough to think that his tiny army could defeat his enemies. And that's an important lesson for us to learn in our battles against Satan. Our enemy is powerful, and if we think we can defeat him by ourselves, we're foolish and badly mistaken.

The king not only prayed, but he also proclaimed a fast throughout the entire land. The Bible goes on to say that he stood in the midst of the people and prayed for deliverance: ”For we have no might to stand against this great company that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You” (v. 12).

That is exactly the prayer G.o.d wanted to hear. The people admitted they didn't know what to do, that they couldn't win, and that their only hope was in G.o.d's deliverance.

Just then, the Holy Spirit came upon a man named Jahaziel. ”He said, hearken, all Judah, you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat. The Lord says this to you: Be not afraid or dismayed at this great mult.i.tude; for the battle is not yours, but G.o.d's” (v. 15). He went on to say, ”You shall not need to fight in this battle; take your positions, stand still, and see the deliverance of the Lord [Who is] with you. . . . Fear not nor be dismayed” (v. 17). The account goes on to say that the people began to sing praises to G.o.d. When they did that, G.o.d had warriors from Mount Seir sneak in and kill Judah's enemies so that none escaped.

That's the biggest secret of winning the battles against your enemy. You acknowledge your fear-you can even call it ”holy fear” because it pushes you to seek G.o.d. If you're not really afraid (or worried) and don't see the problem as bigger than yourself, why would you call for G.o.d's help? But when it becomes overwhelming, you realize that you need divine help. Isaiah says it this way: ”When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him and put him to flight [for He will come like a rus.h.i.+ng stream which the breath of the Lord drives]” (Isaiah 59:19b).

When you cry out in holy fear, G.o.d hears and races to your rescue. That's His promise, and He never breaks His promises to His own.

G.o.d, I've known fear, and too often I've concentrated on the fear and forgotten that it's an opportunity to call on You so I can see Your hand of deliverance in my life. Give me holy fear so that I'll always call on You in my times of trouble. In the name of Jesus Christ, I ask this. Amen.

71.

Wasted Life [Jesus said]

Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled].

-JOHN 14:27 I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you].

-JOHN 16:33 In my book Battlefield of the Mind, I admit: ”I wasted many years of my life worrying about things I could do nothing about. I would like to have those years back and be able to approach them in a different way. However, once you have spent the time G.o.d has given you, it is impossible to get it back and do things another way.”2 What I didn't realize for so many years was that Jesus' peace is always there, ready and waiting for us. His peace is spiritual, and His rest operates in the middle of trouble, noise, and confusion. Too often, we think we'd be just fine if there weren't so many storms in life. But that's absolutely not true. Real peace comes from going through the storms and winning the battles of life.

I attended the funeral of an elderly gentleman several years ago. Near the casket stood the eighty-four-year-old widow, who had just lost her husband in a fire that had totally destroyed their home. She barely came out alive herself. Just a week or so earlier, her son had died of cancer, and her daughter had been killed in a freakish car accident. She had lost all of her loved ones within a period of two weeks!

”How are you handling all of this?” I heard someone ask her. ”How can one person endure so much?”

The woman's eyes were moist as she replied, but her voice was firm. She said, ”It wasn't easy. I felt as if I were walking across a river that kept getting deeper, and I was sure I would drown. I kept crying out for G.o.d's help. And do you know what? My feet touched the riverbed, and my head was still above the water. I had made it across. G.o.d was with me. His peace enabled me to keep going when I was sure I would drown.”

This is how G.o.d's peace works. Jesus made it clear that we don't have to worry, because He is with us. No matter how deep the water, He is always there.

I thought again of my years of worrying and living without G.o.d's peace. I was a Christian, and I tried to follow G.o.d in every way I knew. However, money was a big problem in those days, and many times, I wondered if we would be able to pay all of our bills.

My husband, Dave, never seemed to worry about anything. I'd be ready to collapse under the stress of it all, and he'd be in the other room playing and wrestling with the children. One time I asked, in frustration, ”Why don't you help me figure this out instead of playing with the children?”

”What would you like me to do?” he asked.

I didn't know what to say. There was nothing he could do, and I knew it, but it upset me that he could go on enjoying life as if we weren't in a desperate financial situation. But that was also a great moment of awakening for me.

I had been at the kitchen table for at least an hour worrying, and fretting, and trying to figure out how to pay all our bills. No matter what I did, we simply didn't have enough money that month. Dave understood the problem and didn't like it any more than I did, but he didn't fret. He knew there was nothing he could do to change the figures.

He didn't say it, but I realized what he meant. ”If we can't change anything, why are you wasting your life trying to fix the things that can't be fixed?”

As I look back, I'm ashamed of myself. I wasted so many hours of my early married life. Instead of enjoying my life, my children, and my husband, I wasted my energies on trying to fix things I couldn't fix.

G.o.d met our financial needs-sometimes through amazing miracles-and all my worry was for nothing. I wasted a precious time in my life-part of the wonderful, abundant life Jesus offered to me. I have it now, and I'm grateful, but I could have had a more abundant life back then. It took me a while, but I have finally learned to enjoy the faithfulness of my heavenly Father.

G.o.d of all peace, help me to recognize and enjoy Your presence in my life and to be thankful for all Your blessings. Don't let me waste my life worrying about things that only You can control. In the name of Jesus, I ask You to free me from worry. Amen.