Being drawn into fighting battles we are not meant to fight is a temptation we all face. A better way to approach such battles is to take Moses’ advice given to the Israelites when Pharaoh and his army were breathing down their neck at the Red Sea. “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14 NIV
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation present your requests to God.” (Phil. 4:6 ) Why is it when we try to give control over to God as this verse instructs, we still find ourselves worrying? The problem is that we are often still clinging to our ideas about how things ought to go. In doing so we are secretly continuing our attempts at control and essentially saying to God we know a better way. Getting rid of our anxiety when we pray begins by giving up our ideas and desires about things in deference to God.
This promise, to those driven in pursuit of Godly goals and by a heart to please Him, offers great encouragement that each step before us however halting, will be strengthened and established by Him as we take them.
Making something good out of something bad is at the heart of God’s redemptive nature, and He specializes in transforming our pressures into diamonds and irritations into pearls.
We are living in a world in which this assurance from Jesus could not be more relevant. If there ever was a time when we needed to hear “take heart,” with ALL it’s nuanced meaning, it is now.
