The Sandbag Times Issue No:24

Have Faith
Do Not Fear
“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your
life?” (Matthew 6:27)
Uncertainty and worry can drive people to fear, and there seems to
be a lot of that going around at the moment. Fear for the future, fear
of change. What will happen? Will we be shut out by other
countries? Will we be on our own? How will this impact our political
system, our lives, our immigrant friends’ lives, our childrens future,
the strength of our economy,
employment, the cost of living?
And then the media come along
and stir up that unrest, that
worry, they thrive on it. After
all they do seem to like printing
doom and gloom.
‘So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am
your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you
with my righteous right hand.’ (Isaiah 41:10)
After the last week of Euro stuff, I’m sure all of us just want to get
on with it now. But this message ‘Do not fear’, has been laying
heavily on my heart since the results came in last Friday. The world
seems to have gone crazy. We have so many suggesting ‘the end of
the world is nigh’, and yet
others saying ‘give it a
chance’. People being
critical of each others’
views, to the point of
hatred, with the very real
possibility of division
throughout the nation.
Instead of standing united,
we are falling....divided.
The media is capitalising
on the scaremongering and
really helping to fuel the
fear that people have about the impending changes. This in turn has
an impact on businesses and the stock market etc. But what we don’t
hear about is the positives. It’s funny because I shared a quote the
other day on Facebook which fits in really well with what I am trying
to say. It is impossible to argue with negative people because ‘they
have a problem for every solution’. We all knew, whether voting in
or out, that there would be
turbulent and uncertain times
ahead. There are always
consequences no matter what
choices you make. As Isaac
Newton so famously put it,
‘For every action there is an
equal and opposite
reaction.’.
Anyway back to the point
in hand. I am not saying that people haven’t the right to be concerned
or apprehensive about the future, but as I have said in previous weeks,
where does worry get us?!
I am glad that I have my faith in situations like this, because no
matter what happens in years to come, I know that God ‘is the same
yesterday, today and forever’ (Hebrews 13:8). Although all around
us things can change, God never changes. He is the one constant in
an ever changing world. I am thankful that I know and trust that God
will meet all my needs.
“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?” (Matthew 6:25-26)
This passage goes on to say....
“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 6:28-34)
This is why I write Have Faith, to try and provide food for thought,
to try and offer some hope where things seem hopeless. I am not
saying that it is easy not to worry, I find worry often creeps into my
mind and if I don’t catch it early and stop it, it multiplies so fast (like
an infection), and before I know it I am a living breathing mass of
anxiety and fear. I try to exercise my faith in all things, but often
struggle to have faith, eventhough I know God has always met my
needs. That an answer to prayer has always come, sometimes
immediately, sometimes later, but it has always come.
‘Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that
you have received it, and it will be yours.’ (Mark 11:24)
| 24 www.sandbagtimes.co.uk