Gas prices are steadily rising. Going to the grocery store can leave you with sticker shock. Slowly the worry and doubt starts to trickle in. This past week as gas prices rose, we felt our own fears rising. We began to think about money and if we would have enough. It wasn’t until we fell to our knees in prayer, that peace finally came.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:25-34 NIV
Pondering on God’s word, we found a peace. Instead of seeing our bills as seemingly never-ending bold red numbers dancing in our heads, there was peace. There was the peace of knowing that if we pray and spend time in God’s Word we would be okay. We had been concerned about clothing for our son. He is growing rapidly and the cost of buying clothing is an expense we had not considered when budgeting. Instead of letting fear control the situation, we turned to the Lord. We prayed that God would open a door or at least a window for us. God answered our prayer and blessed us beyond measure two days later. After church, our son was playing with a boy a bit bigger and older than him. His mother asked if we could use some clothing for our son. We were floored. We hadn’t told this mother our prayer, and yet she was answering it. God will work through his followers and this was proof. Often we read or listen to the Bible on audio, and in the noisiness of life, it is far too easy to hear but not actually listen to God’s word.
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”
James 1:22 NIV
As Christians it is vital that we must act in line with Scripture. A well-known idiom ‘Practice What You Preach’ also reinforces this teaching. The saying’s origins are rooted in Scripture, as many idioms are. In the book of Matthew, Jesus is teaching his followers and highlights how the Pharisees are hypocrites.
“So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.”
Matthew 23:3 NLT
We strive to live according to Proverbs 22. In it, it states, “the borrower is servant to the lender.” If we can’t afford something without acquiring debt, we don’t need it. By living simple and step-by-step with the Proverbs, there is less anxiety in life naturally and we feel closer to the Holy Spirit.
“Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.”
Proverbs 22:7 NLT
Reading God’s word and letting His peace saturate your life can bless you more than can be imagined. We need to persevere against the things of this world by finding our rest in Jesus. We need to pray that we do not set our heart on the things of this world. Christ gives us freedom from our fears and anxiety. We just must “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”.
Messengers of Mercy 