He is Our Lamp

2 Sam 22:29 For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my darkness.

Darkness is the absence of light. When the lights go off we become disoriented. Confusion often follows, and we begin to question God. David, a man after God’s heart faced dark times and even though he knew what was right and knew the precept of God’s law, he became lost in his own selfish pursuits. But David also found his way back when He allowed the light of God to show him his heart and to guide him out of the darkness of despair. He recognized that in order to escape the darkness, He must always avail himself to the lamps God provided along the way. Darkness brings fear of the unknown, followed by anxiety and stress. We all face times when darkness swallows us up. We don’t always know which way to turn, but we can trust God to be our lamp, to show us the way out of our darkness. Everyone goes through the valley of the shadow of darkness, but like David, we can trust God to be our lamp that will provide the light to see us through.

Spirit of Fear

2 Tim 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

“Fear not, I am with thee” It is the tendency of human nature to fear the unknown. The “what if’s?” of life bring anxiety and unwanted stress. Something brought fear to Timothy’s life to point of bringing him to tears. He had a strong grandmother and mom who put their faith and trust in Christ. Timothy had this same quality in his life. He loved God and wanted to be a man of faith. We need to be reminded that God does not want us to fear life and its problems. He desires to give us power over circumstance, relieve us of unneeded stress. And a spirit of love that keeps us kind and forgiving.

Anxious and Troubled

Luke 10:41 “And Jesus answered and said unto her, “Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things.”-

 Anxiety will not only robs us of enjoying life, but cause us to get our eyes of what really matters in life. We worry about many things that are really meaningless when it come to eternal matters. We become troubled about many things in life that make us wonder if God even really cares about us. Living life  has many emotions and there are times that those emotions don’t feel good. We want things to go without any problems and obstacles. We have expectations of ourselves and others and they often fall short. We worry how things will get done when no one seems to care. The temptation is to either complain or just give up. It was not in the serving that Martha was rebuked, but in her attitude toward her burden and Mary. I believe if Martha would had taken the attitude that she was serving to please the Lord and rejoices that Jesus was in her home to serve, that her worry about Mary would have been just a passing thought. Worrying about many things keeps us from drawing close to God. Jesus wants us to cast away our worries and live life knowing that He can take care of all the “stress” and “why?” in our life. We serve Him not to be seen of others, but because we love Him, and desire to know Him in His fullness. As we serve, we need to stop and listen to what He is saying, and rejoice that He speaks to us.