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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Faith and Values: Worry means you’re putting faith in the wrong things

Steve Massey

Seasons change.

So do people and politics.

But God does not.

And it is God’s immutability – his unchanging nature – that gives Christians confidence and clarity in an ever-changing culture.

Many Christians these days are worried: worried about the moral sea change in our country; about losing a perceived majority viewpoint; about being marginalized, if not mistreated, as state and federal laws run contrary to biblical truth.

Worry is a natural response to an uncertain future. It’s also a sure sign that we’ve forgotten – or no longer believe – that our God is unchanging.

The God who created the heavens and the earth still is in control of his universe – all of it, even our part. The God who throughout history has shown himself strong and faithful on behalf of his people will always be so. And the God who has loved his people relentlessly will always do so.

Don’t take my word for it. God himself said through the prophet Malachi: “I am the Lord, I do not change.”

Are you worried? You’re in good company, not just in our day but throughout human history.

God’s worrying people have always needed to be reminded of his unchanging nature.

“Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,” says the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, “and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.”

The people of Jeremiah’s day were a lot like us. They looked at their scenery and didn’t like what they saw. They felt surrounded by those who opposed God and his ways.

And to such worrying people God promised that those who trust in him “are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water … not bothered by the heat or worried …”

Most Bible-believing Christians would agree that God is, by nature, unchanging. Yet the presence of worry suggests this important truth does not always inform our lives.

Jesus reiterated this truth in an intensely personal way to his disciples: “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?”

Jesus encouraged his followers to look beyond their worrying circumstances to the God who has ultimate authority over those circumstances, the God who loves them.

You know, worry is not merely a sign that we’ve forgotten God’s unchanging nature. It’s also the inevitable consequence of placing our hope and contentment in the wrong things.

Jeremiah’s words of encouragement are actually preceded by a warning: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord. They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future.”

Let’s put that truth in today’s vernacular. Christians who put their hope in the outcomes of court decisions, political races and favorable public opinion are sure to be imprisoned by worry and disappointment. We’re not promised the earthly outcomes we so often put our confidence in.

So much the better to pray for those outcomes, and even work toward them as we’re able … but let God himself determine the results.

The solution to worry is not the absence of circumstances that make us anxious, or fearful. Nor is it getting the earthly outcomes we want.

Worry is defeated only by faith in God.

Steve Massey is pastor of Hayden Bible Church (www.haydenbible.org). He can be reached at (208) 772-2511 or steve@haydenbible.org.