“I want you to be free from anxieties. ...I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.”
(1 Corinthians 7:32,35, ESV)
(1 Corinthians 7:32,35, ESV)
Separated by three verses, the scriptures for today relate to one another. In 1 Corinthians 7:32, Paul wrote the Corinthian church that they should “be free from anxieties”. Then, a few verses later, Paul explains why. Paul wants the Corinthian church to understand that in order to be “free from anxieties”, the faithful person needs to give “undivided devotion to the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:35). Anxiety and an undivided devotion to the Lord are inextricably linked. You can’t have one without the other. If you lack trust and devotion to the Lord, you will have anxiety. If you have anxiety, your trust and devotion to God must be wavering. Have you ever considered the link between faith and anxiety?
“The United States Public Health Service once commented: “No bird ever tried to build more nests than its neighbor. No fox ever fretted because he had only one hole in which to hide. No squirrel ever died of anxiety lest he should not lay by enough for two winters instead of one. No dog ever lost any sleep over the fact that he had not enough bones for his declining years.”” (Tony Llewellyn, Hot Sermon Illustrations). Why is it that nature gives many examples of animals willing to trust in the providence of God while people are filled with anxiety about so many things? Is it that the animals don’t know any better or is it that humans don’t know any better!
Recently, a man wrote about a trip to Yellowstone Park taken by his family many years before. The most memorable part about that trip was the anxiety caused by one of the children….
“A number of years ago I spent a summer teaching in Mexico. Both my children went with me. To pass the time as we drove, my 13-year-old son Larry watched for license plates. The trip to Mexico netted him plates from 24 states, and while we were there, he saw four more.
So, when we started back, he was over halfway to having “collected” all 50. Our return trip was during the peak vacation season, and to top it off, we went through Yellowstone National Park—a license-plate collector’s paradise. By the morning of the second day there, he had just one more state to go: Delaware. Larry became obsessed with finding a license plate from Delaware.
When we stopped to see Yellowstone’s magnificent sights, he didn’t glance at them. He preferred to run up and down the parking lots, looking at license plates. Talk about stress! Talk about anxiety! You would have thought that his whole life depended on finding a Delaware license plate! When we stopped to eat in a cafeteria near Yellowstone Falls, my son begged me to let him look for license plates. “Please, I don’t want to eat,” Larry said. “Can’t I just stay here in the parking Lot?”
“No,” we told him, “You have to eat.”
So, he went inside and ate as quickly as he could get the food down and then headed out to the parking lot. No sooner had we finished our meal, however, than Larry came bounding across the parking lot. “Come here! You’ve got to see it You won’t believe it if you don’t see it!” All of us went running out—and there, just pulling out of a parking space, was a blue Volkswagen bus with Delaware license plates. In fact, we got a picture, and even today, a decade later, when we look at our Yellowstone pictures, that’s the picture that tells more about what we did in Yellowstone than anything else.” (10,000 Sermon Illustrations).
Despite the many beautiful sights in Yellowstone Park, the most memorable and anxious-filled part of the vacation was the Delaware license plate the young man couldn’t find! He was so obsessed with completing his 50-state search for license plates, he couldn’t enjoy the vacation whatsoever!
If you become obsessed with something in your life, you too may miss so many of God’s blessings around you. If you are filled with worry about some aspect of your life, you might find yourself consumed with fear. Praying might be difficult. Rest will elude you. Anxiety will ruin so many moments. When devotion to the Lord comes second to some anxiety in your life, so much beauty and joy is lost. Fears and insecurities will replace peace and tranquility.
Don’t underestimate the connection between anxiety and devotion to the Lord. Root out your anxiety. Place your worries and insecurities with the Lord. Trust in the Almighty! Devote yourself completely to the love of God. Through prayer, place your fears in the mighty arms of God. Let your soul rest through a total devotion to the Lord.
“The United States Public Health Service once commented: “No bird ever tried to build more nests than its neighbor. No fox ever fretted because he had only one hole in which to hide. No squirrel ever died of anxiety lest he should not lay by enough for two winters instead of one. No dog ever lost any sleep over the fact that he had not enough bones for his declining years.”” (Tony Llewellyn, Hot Sermon Illustrations). Why is it that nature gives many examples of animals willing to trust in the providence of God while people are filled with anxiety about so many things? Is it that the animals don’t know any better or is it that humans don’t know any better!
Recently, a man wrote about a trip to Yellowstone Park taken by his family many years before. The most memorable part about that trip was the anxiety caused by one of the children….
“A number of years ago I spent a summer teaching in Mexico. Both my children went with me. To pass the time as we drove, my 13-year-old son Larry watched for license plates. The trip to Mexico netted him plates from 24 states, and while we were there, he saw four more.
So, when we started back, he was over halfway to having “collected” all 50. Our return trip was during the peak vacation season, and to top it off, we went through Yellowstone National Park—a license-plate collector’s paradise. By the morning of the second day there, he had just one more state to go: Delaware. Larry became obsessed with finding a license plate from Delaware.
When we stopped to see Yellowstone’s magnificent sights, he didn’t glance at them. He preferred to run up and down the parking lots, looking at license plates. Talk about stress! Talk about anxiety! You would have thought that his whole life depended on finding a Delaware license plate! When we stopped to eat in a cafeteria near Yellowstone Falls, my son begged me to let him look for license plates. “Please, I don’t want to eat,” Larry said. “Can’t I just stay here in the parking Lot?”
“No,” we told him, “You have to eat.”
So, he went inside and ate as quickly as he could get the food down and then headed out to the parking lot. No sooner had we finished our meal, however, than Larry came bounding across the parking lot. “Come here! You’ve got to see it You won’t believe it if you don’t see it!” All of us went running out—and there, just pulling out of a parking space, was a blue Volkswagen bus with Delaware license plates. In fact, we got a picture, and even today, a decade later, when we look at our Yellowstone pictures, that’s the picture that tells more about what we did in Yellowstone than anything else.” (10,000 Sermon Illustrations).
Despite the many beautiful sights in Yellowstone Park, the most memorable and anxious-filled part of the vacation was the Delaware license plate the young man couldn’t find! He was so obsessed with completing his 50-state search for license plates, he couldn’t enjoy the vacation whatsoever!
If you become obsessed with something in your life, you too may miss so many of God’s blessings around you. If you are filled with worry about some aspect of your life, you might find yourself consumed with fear. Praying might be difficult. Rest will elude you. Anxiety will ruin so many moments. When devotion to the Lord comes second to some anxiety in your life, so much beauty and joy is lost. Fears and insecurities will replace peace and tranquility.
Don’t underestimate the connection between anxiety and devotion to the Lord. Root out your anxiety. Place your worries and insecurities with the Lord. Trust in the Almighty! Devote yourself completely to the love of God. Through prayer, place your fears in the mighty arms of God. Let your soul rest through a total devotion to the Lord.