GET TOGETHER- Worry or Concern ?

GET TOGETHER- Worry or Concern ?

Mt 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 2Ch 32:20,21 Now because of this King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven. Then the LORD sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned shamefaced to his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there. ( NKJV)

At one time in my life I was a big time worrier. When I worked in my family’s restaurant business if we didn’t have people start coming in for lunch at 11:30 I would begin to worry. When they started coming in I would worry if the crowd was going to thin out so that I could eat lunch myself. When there was nothing to worry about, I would worry about what was going to happen because I wasn’t worrying about something. But then came Jesus! And He delivered me from being a worrier.

But sometimes those things that we have been delivered from can try to come back. Jesus spoke about this in Lu 11:24-26 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ “And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. “Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t want any of that stuff that I have been delivered from coming back.

Well last week I caught myself getting anxious about something and yes it was going to try to lead to worry. Our Grandson Micah was playing in a basketball tournament in Birmingham. If they won their games they would have to play on Sunday. And by the way I would personally like to see the people that put on these events leave Sunday out of the picture. That is a topic for another day. And I have not always been perfect in regard to that. Was I going to miss church? Would Micah have is feelings hurt if we didn’t go to the game? We had made the decision that we were going to go to the games on Saturday and go to church on Sunday. Well bless their hearts they played their hearts out and were out of the tournament on Saturday. See there was no reason for me to be anxious about any of that. The enemy loves to get us to worry, because when we do, we are not trusting God and trying to be in control ourselves.

The Greek term for worry is merimnao. It means to be anxious about something. The Apostle Paul told us what to do about those things in Php 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” This is the passage that the Lord used to set me free from worry thirty-three years ago.

Now let’s talk about concern. According to Merriam Webster’s on line dictionary a concern can be something that we care about ,or are troubled about. King Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem were surrounded by 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Assyria was the predominant military power in that part of the world at that time. Their armies were known for committing mass atrocities against the people that they conquered. They often beheaded their victims, raped, and took captive many of the women.

Hezekiah had something to be concerned about. However, rather than worry we read that he and the Prophet Isaiah took this to the Lord in prayer. It only took the Lord sending one angel to take care of the whole Assyrian Army.

There are some serious things that concern me in our culture. We see the threat from China, Russia, and Iraq that are bent on destroying Israel and would love to destroy our country. I am concerned about Christians in Africa, Pakistan, and India being murdered for their faith in Jesus Christ. We can be complacent about it, worry about it, or we can do what Isaiah and King Hezekiah did. We can get serious in prayer about it. The same goes with the devil trying to destroy the Biblical model for the family and for the confusion that witchcraft has brought to our nation concerning human sexuality.

So yes, there are certainly some things to be concerned about. And I haven’t mentioned all of them. What if Hezekiah and Isaiah had just worried about it. What if they had thought that the Assyrian Army was bigger than our God? This morning on my way in to town I was listening to a woman that was the leader of a National Ministry of Mothers that pray for schools. One thing that encouraged me was when she said that the enemy will try to convince us that the battle is already lost for our children and for this nation. And as she emphasized our God is greater than anything that the enemy can bring at us. But we like Isaiah and Hezekiah must make the commitment to get serious in prayer about these matters. I believe that when we do just as they did we can see God bring about a mighty victory that only He can get the glory for.

Let Us Pray

Lord Jesus

We thank You that You have told us not to worry. And we thank You Lord You gave us an example of what to do when we are faced with adversity. On the night that You prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and You were facing the cruel death of crucifixion and taking our sins upon yourself. We thank You for the Word of God and for the example that King Hezekiah and the Prophet Isaiah set for us. We know that we don’t battle against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. And we know that You defeated them at the cross and made a public spectacle over them. Stir our hearts to contend for victory in our prayer closets and everywhere else that You send us.

In Jesus Name

Amen

Your Friend /Kinfolk

Preston

PS For those in Northwest Alabama our Broadcast Redeeming the Time comes on at 9:30 A.M. AND 9:30 P.M. on Sunday morning and Sunday night. That is on Spectrum Channel 10. In Jasper, it is on TV 16.

Please pray for the Lord to reach the lost through these broadcasts, and to encourage the faithful