Worry, distress, anxiety, and depression are all on the rise. Yet, some people seem to have peace even in our troubled world. What’s the difference? And is it possible to have that peace?
Also, I can’t imagine anything worse than believing you are right with God and when you stand before Him, hear those words, “I never knew you.” Yet, in the “Parable of the Wheat and the Tares” and in the “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus acknowledged that there are many sitting in churches who don’t belong to Him and will hear Him say, “I never knew you.”
Today’s Readings:
Isaiah 47 & 48
Psalm 111.7-10
Proverbs 26.11-12
Galatians 6.1-18
How to Have Peace Instead of Anxiety & Distress
Isaiah 47 & 48:
Trusting in Self, False Gods & Sorceries
In chapter 47, the Babylonians thought they were strong, secure, and untouchable. They trusted in themselves, their false gods, and their sorceries. They had set themselves against God and would soon be judged.
Like the Babylonians, many today are busy enjoying their ease, success, and power. If they have any spiritual belief, it’s often a mix of new-age spirituality, humanism, and whatever social justice cause is popular at the moment. Even when they claim to believe in God, they pervert His Word, twisting it to make it say the opposite of what it means. Many of them have set themselves against God by ignoring His clear commands.
Instead, they make their own laws.
His Law & Theirs
Jesus said the greatest commandment is, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22.37). And in the book of John, He said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (Jn. 14.15).
But today, God’s standards of right and wrong have been thrown out. Truth is relative. Right is whatever I say is right for me. Any fear of God that requires obedience to His commandments is gone.
For example, Paul’s told the Thessalonians:
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God” (1 Thess. 4.3-5).
But in its place, the #1 sexual commandment has become “Thou shalt not be intolerant of anything I want to do!”
The second greatest commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” has become “I am justified in attacking and ruining you if you disagree with me.”
Assenting to Belief in God
Even when some claim a belief in the God of the Bible, they wrongly interpret God’s patience and tolerance.
They have lied about the LORD and said, ‘He won’t bother us! No disasters will come upon us. There will be no war or famine’ (Jer. 5.12 NLT).
Instead of seeing God’s patience and mercy as an opportunity to repent, they believe there will never be a day of accounting. But while God is a God of mercy, He is also a God of justice. And because He is, He must judge sin.
He often does so by removing His restraining grace and allowing nations and individuals to give full vent to their sinful desires and to experience the subsequent consequences (Rom. 1.18-32).
Signs of God’s Judgment
We can see the signs of His judgment already if we look at the end of Romans 1:
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
Notice that last verse. The bottom of this downward spiral into ungodliness is approval of what we know is wrong. That’s what is demanded today. Many aren’t happy with the right to make their own choices about how to live, they demand that everyone openly approve or be condemned themselves.
Despising God’s Mercy
Paul went on in chapter 2 of Romans:
4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
As I said, God’s patience and mercy with sinful man should make us turn to Him in gratitude and repentance, but instead …
5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
If you have read many of my posts, you may have seen the Y-chart before, but I’d like to share it again today.
Peace or Anxiety & Distress
We sometimes remind people of the truths in this chart by saying, “Only two choices on the shelf, pleasing God or pleasing self.” It may sound childish, but the principle is anything but.
Our choices come from the heart, out of our mind, will, desires, and emotions. And whether big or small, they are often choices about whether to please God or please ourselves. Either way, those choices have consequences.
If you look back at Romans 2.9 above, it says there will be tribulation and anguish, some translations say distress, on every soul who does evil.
My husband studied the meanings of those two words translated as tribulation and distress. He found that tribulation included all of the following: suffering, distress, misery, unhappiness, sadness, heartache, grief, sorrow, pain, anguish, worry, anxiety, burden, ordeal, trial, adversity, hardship, tragedy, trauma, and affliction. And distress included: extreme anxiety, sorrow, pain, agony, torment, despair, poverty, deprivation, destitution, need, danger, peril, and jeopardy.
Many of those words describe the things that afflict men and women today, even much of what we call mental illness. I’m not saying there are not genuine diseases of the brain, but much of what people experience has its roots in sinful responses and behavior. Look at those definitions again: suffering, worry, anxiety, despair, and torment just to name a few.
Fear & Anxiety Instead of Peace
So, we come to that point of decision shown in the Y-chart. We are faced with the choice to go God’s way or our own. It’s easy to start down the road of pleasing self because going our own way seems right. It’s our natural bent. But life doesn’t remain easy as we just saw in Romans 2.9. Proverbs 13.15 tells us the way of the transgressor is hard. And Proverbs 32.10 says many are the sorrows of the wicked.
And since God’s law is written on every man’s heart (Rom. 2.15), we have no peace only fear and anxiety because there is no peace between us and God.
Depression, fear, and anxiety continue to rise today along with the use of anti-depressants and and anti-anxiety medications. Like Adam and Eve in the garden (Gen. 3.7-10), we hide from God and mistrust one another. We fail to make the connection between our anxiety and misery and our rejection of God. Instead of turning back to Him, we have become angry, blaming others for our unhappiness and demanding more of what we think will make us happy. Yet, those things only lead to more tribulation, distress, anxiety, and fear.
We all prove the Word of God to be true one way or the other.
Glory, Honor & Peace in Place of Anxiety & Depression
On the other hand, Romans 2.10 says there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good. And James 1.25 says those who obey God’s Word will be blessed.
This choice may start out being hard because it’s not always comfortable to do things God’s way. It often means going against the current of popular opinion and our own sin nature. But when we choose to please and obey God, we can rely on His help and strengthening. As Jesus said:
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11.28-30).
Glory, honor, peace, and what we might call blessedness, can be ours in spite of any hardship that may come from standing our ground and going against our own feelings because we have peace with God and peace in our souls. We have peace in place of depression and anxiety.
Wheat & Tares
Now back to the book of Isaiah. In chapter 48, God speaks to those who call themselves His people. Though He continues to assure them that He will not utterly destroy them because of His mercy and grace, he promises to judge those who hypocritically claim to believe one thing while practicing another.
Then, as today, there were those who claimed faith in God but who were not genuine believers.
Many in our own churches will hear him say, “I never knew you” (Matt. 7.21-23) because, while they may do religious things and even mentally ascent to some truths about God, they have never put their faith in the gospel.
Later in Matthew, Jesus told “the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares.” He said there are tares, unbelievers, growing alongside the wheat, believers.
Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn’ (Matt. 13.30).
How about you? Are you sure? Paul told the Corinthians:
5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test (2 Cor. 13.5)!
If you’re not sure, you can read more in this post from a few days ago, “Is Your Faith Genuine?”
Today’s Other Readings:
Psalm 111.7-10:
Wise Fools
Verse 10 of this Psalm says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom …” No wonder in a society claiming to be so wise and so enlightened, we find such utter foolishness!
Professing to be wise, they became fools (Rom. 1.22).
Proverbs 26.11-12:
A Dog and His Vomit
As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly (v. 11).
Pretty disgusting imagery! But nothing in God’s Word is there by accident. Strong imagery is intended to make a strong and important point. As believers, we’re not “dogs.” We have God’s Word to guide us and the Holy Spirit living inside of us so we can change and become more and more like Christ. We don’t have to be fools. Instead, we can “have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2.16) and grow to become progressively more like Him (Rom. 8.29).
Verse 12 goes on:
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
How dangerous it is to allow ourselves to become puffed up with knowledge and self-importance! Pride blinds us to our own shortcomings and foolishness. Instead, we need to humble ourselves and stay teachable. 1 Corinthians 10.12 says:
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Galatians 6.1-18:
Faithful Wounds
This passage begins:
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (vss. 1-2).
So many today are afraid to get involved in someone else’s problems. And yet, when our brother or sister is “overtaken in a trespass,” it is often the loving thing to do, to come alongside, confront in a spirit of gentleness, and help to restore them to usefulness in the body of Christ.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful (Prov. 27.6).
Your Thoughts:
Do you enjoy God’s peace or do you struggle with anxiety and depression? Is there something we talked about today that might help you enjoy more peace? Perhaps you saw a passage in a new light or an area where you need to grow and change. Did you find a promise to hold on to? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Coming Up:
In the coming days, we will look at biblical prosperity and the prosperity doctrine and talk about freedom, bondage, and co-dependency.
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And if you don’t already have a copy, you might want to purchase a copy of my eBook, 10 Benefits of Keeping a Spiritual Journal. It’s available on Kindle or in paperback (the paperback has 31 days of blank journaling pages with prompts to help you get started).
Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥
Note about this post:
I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer.
A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”
I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)
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