Living in today’s world is stressful! Besides the fact that we have a worldwide pandemic, whole industries have been affected, many people’s lives and livelihoods have been shattered, sequestered and shutdown. Kids can’t go to school and miss their friends, people can’t go to work and miss their colleagues. It’s a mess!
Jesus warned us…
33 “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 NLT
OK, but how does that get you through the tremendous “trials and sorrows” you’re currently going through?
Ah, that’s where bowing comes in. I discovered it in one of the study plans in the free YouVersion Bible App, called “The Calm: Life Each Day in the Calm Amid the Storm” from Thistlebend.org…
BOW
The most effective and powerful antidote for anxiety is thanksgiving and praise. When we feel it coming on or even begin to think about the possibility of it coming on we want to nip it in the bud. We want to immediately stop and “BOW.” Here are three things to help us find the calm when we are encountering the overwhelming waves of anxiety.
Bow before Him. Bring all of your cares to Him! Lay them at His feet. Humble yourself before Him. Honor Him as God. He knows all. He can handle it all. Bring Him your heartache, your children, your spouse, your finances, your day, your future, your life — all of your concerns. He knows what is best, and He works all things according to His wise and loving will. Cast all of your cares upon Him believing that He cares for you. He is able. You are not. He is God. You are not!
Offload your angst. Humbly hold each thought up to the Word of God. Take your worry, your anxiety, your fear, your unbelief, your anger — all of the sin that is weighing down your little water craft — and confess them to the Lord. Throw each and every one overboard, and let them fall to the bottom of the sea of His grace.
Worship the Lord. Fix your eyes upon Him. Take your eyes off of yourself and off of your circumstances and set them securely upon your Lord. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and come into His courts with praise. Thank Him from the bottom of your heart following the example of the psalmists. Humbly acknowledge that you can’t see all things, but He can. Worship Him in the spirit of holiness, praising and thanking God because He knows what is best. He is all powerful. He is in control. He knows what He is doing. No one can stay His hand. And He has you in the palm of that mighty hand.
Take a moment to practice taking these truths to heart. Turn to Psalm 96 in your Bible and bow before God. If you are not able to bow literally, humbly bow before Him in your heart. He is God. He loves you with a love that knows no bounds. He is good, and He is working on your behalf even as you pray. BOW before Him now.
Thistlebend.org
Psalm 96
1 Sing a new song to the Lord!
Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!
2 Sing to the Lord; praise his name.
Each day proclaim the good news that he saves.
3 Publish his glorious deeds among the nations.
Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.
4 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 The gods of other nations are mere idols,
but the Lord made the heavens!
6 Honor and majesty surround him;
strength and beauty fill his sanctuary.7 O nations of the world, recognize the Lord;
recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong.
8 Give to the Lord the glory he deserves!
Bring your offering and come into his courts.
9 Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor.
Let all the earth tremble before him.
10 Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
The world stands firm and cannot be shaken.
He will judge all peoples fairly.11 Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice!
Psalm 96 NLT
Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!
12 Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy!
Let the trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the Lord, for he is coming!
He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice,
and the nations with his truth.
Thanksgiving
One of the problems we have is that we wait until Thanksgiving Day to thank the Lord.
We need to trust God with our lives DAILY! And thank HIM for EVERYTHING. Thank Him every morning for a new day, for your home, for your car, for the food in your kitchen. Then ask Him for guidance for whatever you have to do. Here’s another great psalm…
Psalm 42
1 As the deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before him?
3 Day and night I have only tears for food,
while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
“Where is this God of yours?”4 My heart is breaking
as I remember how it used to be:
I walked among the crowds of worshipers,
leading a great procession to the house of God,
singing for joy and giving thanks
amid the sound of a great celebration!5 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and 6 my God!Now I am deeply discouraged,
but I will remember you—
even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
from the land of Mount Mizar.
7 I hear the tumult of the raging seas
as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
8 But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life.9 “O God my rock,” I cry,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I wander around in grief,
oppressed by my enemies?”
10 Their taunts break my bones.
They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”11 Why am I discouraged?
Psalm 42 NLT
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God!
Paul wrote…
“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Colossians 3:1-3 NLT
Have you been raised to a new life with Christ?
A few weeks ago, I was feeling anxious. As I was listening to the lesson in ThroughTheWord free Bible app on Lamentations 3, Pastor Sandy Adams reminded me of the hymn, “Great is Thy Faithfulness”. I used to play that on my guitar. I even remember playing and singing that at an Easter sunrise service on the shores of Biscayne Bay in Miami.
I searched and found it on YouTube. I pray that it will comfort you as it comforted me…..
God is Faithful!
Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see.All I have needed thy hands have provided
William Runyan, T. O. Chisholm
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.
