I don\u2019t know too many people who say they are not concerned by recent world events, the economy, and the current political climate.\u00a0 In fact, most people I know spend a lot of time being angry or frightened (or both) about these things and so much more.\u00a0 Yet, the Bible tells us that, as believers, we are not to worry.\u00a0 About anything. \u00a0 How can we do that?<\/p>\n
In the modern vernacular \u201cworry\u201d means to be anxious or disturbed.\u00a0 The Greek word translated as \u201cworry\u201d is merimnao<\/a>, which also means to be anxious and that comes from the word merimna which means \u201cto be divided or pulled apart\u201d.\u00a0 This is appropriate because worrying about things outside of our control will only pull us apart from God and the peace He promised us.<\/p>\n Philippians 4:4-9 says,<\/p>\n <\/a> 4\u00a0Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let\u2019s pick that apart and take a closer look.<\/p>\n First it says we are to rejoice in the Lord always.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 If we feel the world is falling apart around us, what is there to rejoice over?\u00a0 For one thing, this world is temporary but we, as children of God, have an eternal home with Him.\u00a0 Jesus died and was raised again to insure that promise.<\/p>\n For another, God created this world and everything in it.\u00a0 We believe God is in control \u2026 even when things look to be out of control.\u00a0 They may be out of our<\/strong> control, but not God\u2019s.\u00a0 We must trust that God knows what He\u2019s doing, even if we don\u2019t.<\/p>\n When we can be calm and unafraid in the face of such turmoil people notice.\u00a0 When we explain that our peace comes from the promises of God, we serve His purposes.\u00a0 When we serve His purpose, He in turn blesses us.<\/p>\n And finally we are to choose the things we allow to occupy our minds.\u00a0 This is not to say we should be oblivious to the world around us \u2013 we must live in this world, at least for now \u2013 but we must not be part of the world.\u00a0 We must not conduct ourselves as those of this world do.\u00a0 We can avoid the pitfall of worry and stress not by shutting out the world but by focusing instead on the good things to be found in this world that God created, not the negatives that man has added to it.<\/p>\n Not only is worry counterproductive, it is also a form of disobedience.\u00a0 God has told us not to worry, so to worry is to rebel against His guidance.\u00a0 We don’t usually think of worry as sin, but it is! Confess it as sin.\u00a0 Choose to obey God and depend on Him for the ability.<\/p>\n Plan a time daily when you can spend some time\u2014even if it’s only fifteen minutes\u2014reading the Bible.\u00a0 Think about what you read, and go over the phrases.\u00a0 Put your name in place of the pronouns, applying each verse to specific situations in your life.\u00a0 Memorize passages that will help you.\u00a0 God’s Word is powerful \u2013 it will renew and protect your mind in times of distress or crisis.<\/p>\n The apostle Peter once walked on the sea in the middle of a storm.\u00a0\u00a0 He succeeded as long as he focused on Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0 When he looked instead at the waves, be began to sink.\u00a0\u00a0 Be aware of what’s around you, but focus on Jesus, not on the storm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I don’t know too many people who say they are not concerned by recent world events, the economy, and the current political climate. In fact, most people I know spend a lot of time being angry or frightened (or both) about these things and so much more. Yet, the Bible tells us that, as believers, … Continue reading “Being Happy in Unhappy Times”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[78],"class_list":["post-11971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-matters-of-faith","tag-christian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11971"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21484,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11971\/revisions\/21484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/i><\/a> 5\u00a0Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
\n<\/i><\/a><\/a> 6\u00a0Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7\u00a0and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
\n<\/i><\/a> 8\u00a0Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy\u2014meditate on these things. 9\u00a0The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. (NKJV)<\/i><\/p>\n