Do not worry, Lord Jesus is with you

We live in a world where worry is the norm. Students worry whether they would score well in their exams. Employees worry whether they would get a good raise this year. Some worry whether they would get a good life partner. Parents worry about their children and their future. People worry for various reasons, some cannot stay without worrying. Many people think that if they don't worry then they are not being responsible, hence they worry because they feel that by doing so they are being responsible. It is to such a crowd our Lord Jesus asks the following question:

"Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?" - Matthew 6:27

Till now nobody has ever been able to add one hour to their life just by worrying, but still people worry. The truth is worrying will never help improve our situation, but it will only add stress on us which will have a negitive impact on our life. Hence our Lord asks:

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" - Matthew 6:25

This is a question which everyone of us need to think about which our Lord asked in the above verse saying "isn't quality life more important than food? and isn't good health more important than clothing? But how can we stop worrying when we have so many responsibilities where we encounter so many uncertain situations in our day to day life? The Lord says:

"Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things" - Matthew 6:30-32

The point that our Lord is trying to make is that our Father in Heaven knows that we need these things. In other words, if it matters to us, then it matters to Him as well. The Lord illustrates by pointing to the grass of the field which exist today in the field and is thrown into the oven tomorrow. The green grass in Biblical symbology represents health. Our Lord Jesus says that the Father in Heaven takes the responsibility of clothing us with good health because you are His child bought by the precious Blood of His Beloved Son. The people of the world run after money at the expense of their health during the first half of their life, and during the second half they run after their health using the money which they have earned. The Bible says that the blessing of the Lord does not come at the expense of sorrow:

"The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it" - Proverbs 10:22

In other words, when our Heavenly Father blesses us, He will make sure that we stay healthy and at the same time making sure that our daily needs are met. This is the reason our Lord Jesus taught us to pray saying "give us this day our daily bread" and not weekly bread, or monthly bread, or yearly bread while talking about the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. Daily bread because the Lord is interested to meet our daily needs, as He knows what we need. In Exodus 16 we see that the Lord provided fresh manna everyday to the people of Israel. He values us not because of our own works, but because we are washed by the Blood of His Son, hence Jesus said:

"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" - Matthew 6:26

Does this mean that we dont have to worry and just be careless in everything that we do? This is exactly how our own understanding would reason. God's Word in 1 Corinthians 6:19 says that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Old Testament temple or the tabernacle had 3 areas, namely the outer courts, the holy place, and the holy of holies. The outer courts is where all the work would be done where there is a lot of activity taking place. The holy place and the holy of holies is within the tent, where it is quiet and peaceful. Similarly, while we are working on the outside by either studying for an exam, or working in an organization, or parenting, etc., we would be able to remain at rest on the inside without worrying too much when we understand the truth that the Lord is responsible for us, protecting us, supplying us with His Grace more than enough to meet our daily needs. The more we worry, the more we want to be in control and the less we want the Lord to be in control. The less we worry, the less we are in control and the more we want the Lord to be in control. When we do not worry, we want our Lord Jesus to be in complete control. The Lord knows our limits, and He will not put us in a situation where we would be overwhelmed, which is why the Bible says:

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" - 1 Corinthians 10:13

If the Lord has allowed a situation in your life, it is because He is with you, leading you, and guiding you where He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). All we need to do is have faith in His leadership as He is the author and the finisher (Hebrews 12:2). God's Word promises us by saying:

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" - Philippians 1:6

If the Lord has started something, He will finish it. But what if we make many mistakes? We need to trust Him even in our mistakes, the Lord knows that we would make mistakes just like a father who is aware that his child would make mistakes yet he would continue to train the child. As the child of the Most High God, we need to learn from our mistakes as we walk with the Lord. Apostle Peter is the best example as he had denied the Lord 3 times but was humbled by the love of Christ. Later we see Apostle Peter looking low on the gentiles who later gets rebuked and scolded by Apostle Paul for doing so, as seen in Galatians 2:11-21. Apostle Paul rebuking Apostle Peter was the Lord's way of correcting His children, in this case the Lord was correcting Apostle Peter. In Luke 9:51-56 when Apostle James and John saw that the Samaritans did not welcome our Lord Jesus, they asked the Lord whether He wanted them to call fire down from heaven just like how Elijah did and burn these people. Jesus rebuked them saying:

"...Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village" - Luke 9:55-56

In other words, the Lord was saying that Apostle James and John were not operating under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. This is how our Lord corrects His children today reminding us of who we are in Christ, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). King David is known as the man after God's own Heart (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22), even though the Lord foreknew the mistakes which King David would make in his lifetime, yet the Lord choose him. King David was open to the Lord's leadership and correction and continued walking with the Lord. The Lord has honored King David by orchestrating the birth of His Son Jesus Christ in the family line of King David. For this reason the Bible says:

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:31

This does not mean that we need to willingly make mistakes, but rather what it means is that we need to have an attitude of learning from our mistakes, where we are humble enough to be corrected by the Lord. The way the Lord corrects us, leads us, and guides us today by placing us at the right place at the right time is by:

1. God's Word (Bible)
2. Holy Spirit
3. Counsel from elders or individuals
4. Common sense

For example, the three magi was able to recognize the birth of our Lord Jesus by looking at the star in the sky as they knew the scriptures stated in Numbers 24:17 and Micah 5:2. Paul and Timotheus was lead by the Holy Spirit not to go to Asia to preach the Gospel as seen in Acts 16:6. The Bible says that King Solomon when he recieved wisdom from the Lord, he surrounded himself with wise counselors as seen in 1 Kings 4:1-19 as he reigned as King over Israel for 40 years. On the other hand, King Solomon's son Rehoboam, when he became king, he rejected the counsel of the elders which lead to his downfall, as seen in 1 Kings 12:8. What do we do when we are worried? Apostle Peter said:

"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you" - 1 Peter 5:7

Rather than worrying, we need to cultivate a Bible based principle of casting all our worries upon our Lord Jesus because He cares for us individually. If it matters to us then it matters to Him as well. By casting our cares upon Him, we can continue to lead a peaceful life having full assurance that the Lord is for us and not against us, that He is with us even when we make mistakes, and He will never leave us nor forsake us.