What do I do when life feels overwhelming and out of control? The first step is to cry out, "Abba, Father." It's what a child does when he can't handle something. And our Father loves for us to come to him in our need.
Let's review:
1. We can't bear the weight of our own stress, problems, and fears..
2. Jesus can.
3. So, cast your anxiety on him (1 Peter 5:7). The effort is in the casting.
This week's sermon passage, Romans 8:26-28, is one of those remarkable vistas on the journey to the peak of Romans 8—a peak that we eventually will experience on Easter Sunday. In some ways, this is a training passage, preparing us to trust God now in advance of those times that otherwise would paralyze us with worry. As we learn from this passage, we will face our tendency toward a need for control, and the anxiety that comes from not being in control. We will admit what we don't know, but find hope in what we can know. We also will address the questions that many of us ask and statements we make in light of this passage, such as:
Obviously, this is deep and weighty stuff. But what we find in this passage provides more than enough encouragement for even the most broken, wounded and/or skeptical among us. For the big question is not only why would a good God allow evil and suffering, but why would God endure such evil and suffering? Once we can grasp the answer to that question, we will be on the road to discovering some practical help with the paralyzing effects of worry, and potentially the road to a major spirital breakthrough. On Sunday, we'll discuss a handfull of practical implications that I think are going to make a difference in your life and mine. This is rubber hits the road time. So bring a friend if you are able. I really think you both will be glad you did.
Here is the passage:
"26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."
Is it possible that God might be letting me experience intense anxiety, worry and stress so that I finally will come to a point where I will stop trying to control my life, and will cry out for grace... and then experience peace." Or as Peter says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." In other words, God even uses anxiety, worry and stress for good — like the law, to lead us to Jesus.
Sunday at Creekstone we prayed the Lord's Prayer together. One line that we tend to recite without thinking too deeply is, "Thy will be done." Are we sure we know what we are saying? Thy will? To be honest, I tend to be tenaciously committed to the fulfillment of my will. It is that commitment that sows the seeds of worry, anxiety, fear, drivenness, control and self-protection, among other things. So to pray for the Father's will to be realized is a strong statement of humility, faith and dependency upon the all-sovereign, all-wise and all-loving redemptive plan of God. Humility, faith and dependency cannot co-exist with the idol of my playing the role of Lord of my own life. And as someone has said, being God is way above my pay scale. I'm simply not equipped for that task. After all, if I were God, I never would have planned to rescue the unworthy from their sins — especially through the heinous death of my own son. Yet, as Isaiah 53 says, "It was the Lord's will to crush him" because "All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all" (NLT). Eternal love. Ungraspable grace. Thank you, Father, that Jesus prayed "Thy will be done," and followed through with the plan. Now help me trust your sovereign, wise and loving will with humility, faith and dependency as I journey this day on the paths you have laid out for me.
