Dear Visionary Leader:
We read in Psalm 37:1-4: “Fret not thyself because of evildoers. Neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good, and so shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in Him and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him.”
Even though the Bible commands us not to fret, I’m sorry to tell you that many people worldwide, including Christians, fret. When the stock market goes down, our blood pressure goes up. The ignorant fret because they don’t know enough. The educated fret because they know too much. The poor fret because they don’t have any money. The rich fret because they’re afraid they’re going lose what they have. The old fret because they’re facing death. The young fret because they’re facing an unsure future. And yet, God says not to fret.
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The Lord Jesus warned against worry and fretting. The best thing you can say about worry is that it’s, it’s useless. He says, “Which of you by taking an anxious thought can add one cubit to his stature?” It’s the most useless thing around; it does no good; you don’t gain anything by worry. Some people believe worry helps them. One lady said, Don’t tell me that worry does not help me; most of the things I worry about never happen.” Jesus said, “Take no anxious thought for the morrow.” The best you can say about it is useless.
But if it were only useless, then we wouldn’t be so concerned about it. But it is so harmful. Worry will do the same thing to you that sand will do to machinery. It’ll take all of the blue out of your sky and the joy out of your heart. Have you ever thought about what worry does to you? Few forms of dissipation are as debilitating as worry.
But not only does fretting harm you; it harms others. I mean there are people who just go around spreading gloom. I know people who can brighten up a room by leaving it. I mean, these are folks are a form of contagion. These people who worry, please do not ask them how they feel, they’ll tell you.
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Have you ever thought about how harmful worry is to God? Suppose I came home when my children were little and I saw them in the corner sitting there, whimpering and sniveling, whining, trembling. I said, “What’s wrong?” They said, Well, Daddy, we’re afraid we’re not going to have food to eat tomorrow. We’re worried that we’re not going to have a bed to sleep in. We’re not going to have any clothes to wear, and Daddy, we’re worried. How would that make me feel as a father, as the provider, as the protector, to have my children, my very own children crying, weeping, trembling because they evidently would think I’m not able to take care of them. Well I’m only human. Truth of the matter is, perhaps I would not be able to take care of them. I’d hate to think that, but what an insult to God worry is. Worry is a way of saying, God, You’re not able—You’re not able to provide for me.
God’s Word says fret not. Well that’s one thing for God to say it, but how to do it? We do not only do we have the command; we have the recipe and the power.
We are talking about is not the subtraction of problems. What we’re talking about is the addition of power and the Word of God. There are several commands to help us to be too blessed to be stressed.
Message Continues In Visionary Coaching
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I. We Are To Trust in the Lord When Resources Vanish
Look in verse 3, “Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed.”
The word “trust” is a Hebrew word with the root idea of being face down on the ground with no visible means of support. It literally means to have your feet out from beneath you. When you get in a situation like that, there’s only one thing you can do, and that’s to trust. Most of us have never really been in that kind of a situation and most of us have never really learned to trust in that kind of a situation because somehow, we see some options.
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However, sometimes God puts us in a place where we don’t have any options. I mean the only thing we can do is trust. God taught Israel to trust that way. God was bringing them out of the land of Egypt into the promised land. They came down into a cul-de-sac, the Red Sea in front of them and the mountains on either side of them. Pharaoh’s army was coming behind them with their swords glittering in the sun and blood in their eyes. God said to Moses, speak to the children of Israel that they go forward. They marched into the Red Sea and God opened up a forty-eight lane superhighway for them to go to the other side!
But wait a minute. I want you to imagine Israelites without Pharaoh’s army chasing them, and God says, “Go forward.” They say, “Well, as soon as we see the bridge, as soon as you see the boat, as soon as the boats come, then we’ll go forward. But you see, there comes a time when we don’t have any other options. We just simply have to trust God!
The Apostle Paul learned this truth by trusting the Lord. In Philippians 4:11-12, Paul is in a Philippian prison waiting perhaps for a death sentence, and said, “Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound, everywhere and in all things, I’m instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”
Paul said, I’ve learned in whatsoever state I am to be content. The word “content” is a Greek word that means “self-contained,” to have everything that I need within me. It means to be content, to be self-contained, not dependent upon any other resource except what I have on the inside. I didn’t say self-sufficient, I said self-contained. In the next verse he says in Philippians 4, verse 13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me.” The literal translation, “I can do all things through Christ who is pouring His life into me.” Paul said, “I have learned this.” How did he know it? Did he get this kind of trust by reading a book? Did he get this time of trust by listening to sermons? How do you learn this kind of trust?
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You learn it when you’re at the Red Sea. You learn it when you are in prison. You learn it when you’re walking down the street and a car roars up and somebody puts a gun on you and you’re lying face down. There’s nothing else you can do but trust. There comes a time when we have nowhere to go except to the Lord. When you learn that Jesus is all you have, you’ll learn that Jesus is enough. Paul was saying I can do all things through Christ—he’s just simply saying Jesus is all I need.
In Psalm 37:1, we also read, “Trust in the Lord and do good.” Go about your lifestyle. Do good. You know what people who fret and worry do? They close down shop. They withdraw; they hunker down. What David is saying, Trust in the Lord and do good. That’s the best function. Go ahead and stay busy. Go out and do good.
Let me tell you, if you don’t have a job, don’t sit home in your Lazy-boy watching television. Don’t do that. Get busy. Go do something. You say, I don’t have a job. Go to somebody and say, “Look, I need work.” He or she may say, “Well we’re not hiring.” You can say, “That’s all right. Listen, do you mind if I just come and work for you for nothing?” No doubt you will hear, “What?” Your response can be, “Yeah, can I just show up here? I’ll work for you for nothing.” Trust in the Lord. Do good. Don’t close down shop. Now this is what God is saying. Don’t fret.
Have you ever thought about how many times in the Bible God has promised to meet our needs? He says, “trust in the Lord and do good, verily you’ll dwell in the land and you’ll be fed.”
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Over and over again the Bible tells us that God will take care of us. In Matthew 6:33 we read, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Don’t put things first; put God first. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”
Why is God telling us this? You may think so we can have provision. No, most people in your city are not Christians and yet they have food. Most people have clothes. Most people have a house to live in and they don’t trust the Lord. So, is God telling you to do this so you can have all the stuff? You probably would have it anyway.
Why is God telling you to seek first the kingdom and His righteousness? He’s saying, so you won’t be like the heathen. He says, “After these things do the Gentiles seek.” That’s what occupies their minds. That’s what they’re thinking of night and day, day and night. The Lord says, trust me, let me take care of that so you can serve me. This kind of dedication frees us to serve God. You don’t have to worry about these things. You put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ because Jesus said no man can serve two masters. You can’t serve the things of this world and serve the Lord at the same time.
Paul said, “I have learned in whatsoever state I am there be, therewith to be content.” God puts us in school. I think God’s putting America in school. God will put our families in school. God will keep us there until we pass the test. If we flunk out the first time, He’ll re-enroll us until we learn to trust the Lord. Trust in the Lord when resources vanish. God says you’ll dwell in the land and you will be fed.
Until The Last Person Has Heard,
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Dr. James. O. Davis
Founder/President
Global Church Network
Cochair / Global Networking
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