...anxiety

"Return, O my soul, to your rest" (Pslam 116:7)

As we look to the future with the pandemic, it's vital that we look to the past with our Lord.

Psalm 116 begins: "I love the Lord" (v. 1a). This is a present-tense affirmation and experience. But here is why the psalmist makes this declaration: "because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy" (v. 1b). He trusts God in the present because God has been trustworthy in the past.

The psalmist makes his point again: "Because he has inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live" (v. 2, my emphasis). Once again, he bases his present faith in God on God's faithfulness in the past.

He then illustrates: "The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the Lord: 'O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!'" (vv. 3–4).

This experience taught him that "gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful" (v. 5). He knows that "the Lord preserves the simple" because "when I was brought low, he saved me" (v. 6). Now he can say, "Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you" (v. 7).

How to "cast all your anxiety on him"

What pandemic-induced changes in your life today are especially difficult for you? Name them, then identify times in the past when God has been faithful to you when you faced related challenges.  

If you're struggling financially,

     remember previous times when God met your needs.

If you're worried about the future,

     remember days when such worries were met by God's grace.

If you're concerned about your family or health,

     remember when God provided for your family and health.

Now trust your present fears to your ever-present Father. He promises that "he will not leave you or forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6). Jesus assured us, "I am with you always, even to the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20). You can "cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

R. C. Sproul observed: "The issue of faith is not so much whether we believe in God, but whether we believe the God we believe in."

Do you?

-james denison