Our world is falling apart. Both the earth and its inhabitants are in a mess. Pollution and corruption rule. Like the world in which Noah had to function,
Genesis 6:5, 11-12 NIV
[5] “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time….
[11] Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. [12] God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.”
We are living in times just like Noah’s.
Romans 1:18-20 NLT
[18]”But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. [19] They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. [20] For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”
2 Timothy 3:1-5 NLT
[1] “You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. [2] For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. [3] They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. [4] They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. [5] They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!”
1 Timothy 4:1-2 NLT
[1] “Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. [2] These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.”
Not only is our world in chaos,
but its inhabitants have also gone crazy. Mental health, or the lack of it, is a huge issue in our world today, and from the rising levels of criminal behaviour, more and more people are losing their grip on morals and ethics to satisfy selfishness through crime.
However, far worse than what goes on around us is the ‘meltdown’ that happens inside us. We are the victims of emotional bullying that debilitates us so much that we are often paralysed into inaction and indecision by anxiety, fear, and self-pity.
Unfortunately, these emotional ‘bullies’ fall under the diagnoses of ‘disorders’. Like diseases over which we have no control, we are led to believe that disorders are emotional sicknesses about which we can do nothing. So, we have to rely on medication to keep our bullying emotions from paralysing us.
What a lie from the pit of hell! This phenomenon is one of Satan’s most effective deceptions to keep us from functioning to the full as humans. He wants us in his clutches by getting us to believe that we are the victims of situations and circumstances that we cannot overcome.
Jesus said that He came to give us a full and abundant life. Really! How can this be true when evil rules across the globe? Why do we see so little of abundant living even in God’s family?
The solution is simple but not easy.
When we distill life to its essence, there are three qualities that are essential for our physical and mental well-being; love, peace, and contentment, but the world as it is can give us none of these things.
First, we need to experience a love that will never fail us no matter what happens, that will never abandon or betray us, whoever and whatever we are. We need to know and to learn to live in a love so real that nothing can neutralise this love in our hearts and lives.
Romans 8:35, 37 NLT
[35] “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?…
[37] No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”
God’s love, revealed to us through Jesus, is the only infallible, secure, and unchanging love that can fully satisfy our need. God’s Word assures us that His love is like a fountain of pure water from which we can drink and never thirst again.
Jesus offered this ‘living water’ to a thirsty Samaritan woman who had gone through five husbands and now shacked up with a sixth man who still did not satisfy her need for real love.
John 4:13-14 NLT
[13] “Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. [14] But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
Once we discover the truth of this divine love, we are to protect our precious possession with fervent passion. Satan will do all in his power to convince us that God’s love is an illusion, a myth that we believe in vain. “Look what is happening to you! Trouble, hardship, pain, suffering! Is that the way God loves you?”
Never give in to that lie. God loves you passionately and is working for your good IN ALL THINGS.
Second, we need inward peace in a turbulent and troubled world. Anxiety, fear, call it what you will, is not a disorder. It’s our response to all the insecurities we face and the decisions we have to make even when we don’t know what to do or who to trust.
We are afloat on a very stormy sea of circumstances, and very frightened of the outcome of our choices and decisions if we have no anchor.
Once again, God’s Word gives us the only effective solution to anxiety and fear.
Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
[6] “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Psalms 56:3-4 NIV
[3]”When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. [4] In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
Faith in God, trust in His love, dispels fear.
1 John 4:16, 18 NLT
[16] “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them…
[18] Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”
Third, the element of contentment completes our prescription for an abundant life. Look around you. Everywhere, discontented people are frantically trying to get more! More money, more success, more acclaim, more fame, more leisure, more entertainment, more… more…, the goals are endless. A bigger house, a faster car, a better job, They never have enough.
Many of God’s children are caught up in this drive for more. The prosperity ‘gospel’! God wants you healthy, rich, famous, whatever.
What are we saying? Such behaviour shouts loudly, “God is mean! God has short-changed me! God doesn’t know what what He is doing! God doesn’t love me! Why does He bless others but not me?”
Can you hear the complaints, the accusations, the insults we hurl at God?
Paul earnestly counsels us…
Philippians 2:14 NLT
[14″Do everything without complaining and arguing,…”
1 Timothy 6:6-10 NLT
[6] “Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. [7] After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. [8] So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. [9] But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. [10] For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”
Philippians 4:12-13 NIV
[12] “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. [13] I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
The attitude of contentment, and add to it gratitude, will effectively cut off the flow of grumbling and complaining.
Protect love
Preserve peace
Promote contentment…
These three great attitudes will protect us from the relentless bullies of anxiety, fear, and self-pity if we allow them to take up residence in our hearts. Free from our tormentors, we will find life an adventure, not a terrifying journey, full of opportunities for a loving Father to show us just how great He is.
“If you are a Christian, you are not a citizen of this world trying to get to heaven; you are a citizen of heaven making your way through this world.”