Even as I was preparing to prepare this article the political confusion appeared to be becoming increasingly confusing.
Brexit is causing division in the United Kingdom. The news emerging from The White House in Washington D.C. continues to cause anxiety in the hearts and minds of many.
Worry is growing - there is no doubt about that.
Politics has always been a dirty messy business and over these past few weeks and months it has seemed to have become even dirtier and messier.
It was a former coal miner in Scotland who first said to me that politics was a messy business, and John's words are realistically true today.
Worry and anxiety and apprehension are difficult emotions to come to terms with and also to see them subside and died down and disappear.
However, there is a solution. There is an answer, if mankind wants to embrace and accept the only workable answer.
One wise man wrote, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." He knew from experience the fruit of trusting God, as did Peter and most of those disciples of Jesus, in the early years of the Church.
We sit on a chair, and rest on that chair, trusting the chair will not let us down. Or, we lean on something, or lean on someone, resting some of life's weights.
Notice that verse does not say that we trust with all our mind. No. It is a heart issue. We may not understand all that is happening, but we trust God.
When Peter and John were imprisoned within hours of emerging as leaders in that newly launched Church, would they understand everything? No, but they trusted.
How has God come through for you in the past? You emerged because you leaned, trusted, rested in Him, or ran to Him.
God provided for Abraham when Abraham was about to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. There was a ram caught in the thicket. 'Provide' here has that meaning of "God will see to the need".
Jesus was the ram of God, provided to take away man's sin.
God provided everything for Adam, before he appeared. He did the same for Noah, and He has done the same for others, over the centuries.
Why do we worry? What causes us to worry? God will never abandon you in your crisis.
Am I going to trust Him, hide in Him, hold onto Him, lean on Him, and not be afraid of the outcome?
He provides in Jesus Christ, a Saviour, a Light, a Lord, Who guides, leads, encourages, rescues and strengthens.
At the outset of this year I launched a series of readings and studies on being "Free to Live" where various serious issues are dealt with - fear and worry being early topics.
Should you want me to develop this subject contact me through the excellent facilities on this website. If you have a question, I will endeavour to answer it and if I cannot I will say so.
Elijah knew what it was to experience fear and worry but God gave him a word enabling him to overcome.
When the disciples of Jesus were anxious and apprehensive and on the point of fear and worrying, Jesus pointed them to God the Father and said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled". It was a heart issue. It was an emotion that needed a word of calm and peace and reassurance.
Fear can have deep roots as can worry. One of my friends described worry as a form of atheism where individuals just do not trust Almighty God to act. Worry is a responsibility God never intended us to carry. It is like a rocking chair making you go back and forward or up and down - but it does not get you anywhere.
Why pray, when you can worry?
Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children's Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled "Word from Scotland" on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.
His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.
By Sandy Shaw
Article Source: In the Present Political Climate, Why Pray When You Can Worry? There Are Many Who Are Worried
Brexit is causing division in the United Kingdom. The news emerging from The White House in Washington D.C. continues to cause anxiety in the hearts and minds of many.
Worry is growing - there is no doubt about that.
Politics has always been a dirty messy business and over these past few weeks and months it has seemed to have become even dirtier and messier.
It was a former coal miner in Scotland who first said to me that politics was a messy business, and John's words are realistically true today.
Worry and anxiety and apprehension are difficult emotions to come to terms with and also to see them subside and died down and disappear.
However, there is a solution. There is an answer, if mankind wants to embrace and accept the only workable answer.
One wise man wrote, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." He knew from experience the fruit of trusting God, as did Peter and most of those disciples of Jesus, in the early years of the Church.
We sit on a chair, and rest on that chair, trusting the chair will not let us down. Or, we lean on something, or lean on someone, resting some of life's weights.
Notice that verse does not say that we trust with all our mind. No. It is a heart issue. We may not understand all that is happening, but we trust God.
When Peter and John were imprisoned within hours of emerging as leaders in that newly launched Church, would they understand everything? No, but they trusted.
How has God come through for you in the past? You emerged because you leaned, trusted, rested in Him, or ran to Him.
God provided for Abraham when Abraham was about to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. There was a ram caught in the thicket. 'Provide' here has that meaning of "God will see to the need".
Jesus was the ram of God, provided to take away man's sin.
God provided everything for Adam, before he appeared. He did the same for Noah, and He has done the same for others, over the centuries.
Why do we worry? What causes us to worry? God will never abandon you in your crisis.
Am I going to trust Him, hide in Him, hold onto Him, lean on Him, and not be afraid of the outcome?
He provides in Jesus Christ, a Saviour, a Light, a Lord, Who guides, leads, encourages, rescues and strengthens.
At the outset of this year I launched a series of readings and studies on being "Free to Live" where various serious issues are dealt with - fear and worry being early topics.
Should you want me to develop this subject contact me through the excellent facilities on this website. If you have a question, I will endeavour to answer it and if I cannot I will say so.
Elijah knew what it was to experience fear and worry but God gave him a word enabling him to overcome.
When the disciples of Jesus were anxious and apprehensive and on the point of fear and worrying, Jesus pointed them to God the Father and said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled". It was a heart issue. It was an emotion that needed a word of calm and peace and reassurance.
Fear can have deep roots as can worry. One of my friends described worry as a form of atheism where individuals just do not trust Almighty God to act. Worry is a responsibility God never intended us to carry. It is like a rocking chair making you go back and forward or up and down - but it does not get you anywhere.
Why pray, when you can worry?
Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children's Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled "Word from Scotland" on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.
His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.
By Sandy Shaw
Article Source: In the Present Political Climate, Why Pray When You Can Worry? There Are Many Who Are Worried