Jared Longshore's Blog, page 38

Death to Worry

God tells us that we must kill the deeds of the body. So you should not be disheartened that you still have sin in the flesh to execute. No despairing allowed when sin pops up. You have executed sin before. You can do it again. As you do, you must show your sin no mercy. You are not your sin. Mercy is all over you. But your sin doesn’t get one drop of it.

With that foundation laid, let’s kill the sin of worry. Worry is a beast. Worry is a monster. But she’s a sneaky monster. Worry would have you think she is a weak, pitiable puppy who has lost her way down a dark alley in a bad part of town. She wants your sympathy. “I am a most reasonable sin,” she says. “We live in a fallen world with trouble around every corner.” She wants to woo you into an alternate universe where you rule and God doesn’t.

Worry is flamming pride in masquerade, which is why worrywarts regularly manipulate others. Worry is a momentary lapse of faith in the god of self that you never should have been trusting in the first place. The death blow to this sin involves you trusting the Living God who rules on the sunny mountain and in the dark alley.

So hear and believe these words from God, worry will then die and you will be moving on: “Thus saith God the Lord, He that created the heavens, and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; He that giveth breath unto the people upon it, And spirit to them that walk therein: I am the Lord: that is my name: And my glory will I not give to another, Neither my praise to graven images” (Isaiah 42:5, 8).

How to Stop Complaining

God does not mind speaking directly with us about our complaining. In Philippians 2:14, he says, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings.” Now “all things” is quite comprehensive. The question naturally follows, “But what about when I meet circumstances that are worthy of my murmuring? What if I murmur in private to my spouse? What if I murmur to myself in my head? Is there not any place for my murmurings? And now we have begun to murmur about the very Bible verse that tells us to stop our murmuring. The teaching is quite simple: All of our complaining has to die.

Faith is the key ingredient. By faith we mortify our complaining. By unbelief we pour gasoline on our complaining. Difficulties are a given. Adversity will not go away in this life. Amid a fallen world, the Apostle Paul says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” And he adds, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). Now to the saint on the verge of a murmuring fit, the first command sounds like too much to bear: “I don’t work out anymore. I need a break. This cross is heavy.” 

But the promise that immediately follows provides the much needed energy: “God works in you to will and to do.” What do you do with that? You see, you are not allowed to complain. But you are allowed to believe. You are shut up in one way. And you are entirely free in another. Chirst died for you and liberated you from bitterness and the slavery of continual venting.