Matthew 13:22 and Mark 4:19 say: but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
Luke 12:22-34 explains to us why we should not be anxious and Philippians 4: 6-8 tell us not to be anxious and further tells us HOW to not be anxious and what our minds should be parked on.
I wonder if you, like me, have heart wrenching prayer requests? Things that you have been praying about for years, things that keep you tossing and turning at night?
I have more than a few of these things on my heart and mind and as the verses above state, it has been true in my life, that at times, the word of God has been "choked" [suppressed] in my walk with Jesus.
I am a lover of the word of God. I have a passion for getting the word out to whoever will listen to me and to some who don’t want to hear it, but my heart is so burdened for them. I am a student at heart of many things, but I cannot think of anything better than to spend my time on than studying the word of God and I spend many hours in it because I love it so much; I cannot get enough of it or of Jesus.
So it floors me that I find that God’s word is actually choked out of me sometimes. I know His truth and His promises but in those times of fear and unrest, my eyes are on my circumstances and not what I know to be true of Him.
My whole life depends on and believes in the word of God and yet, more times than I’d like to admit, I find myself anxious, fearful, and stuck in the things that are most precious to me, things that I want desperately to turn out my way, things that I have not seen answers to that I have been praying about for years.
In the devotional “Jesus Calling” on May 21, we are told “It is not so much adverse events that make you anxious as it is your thoughts about those events. Your mind engages in efforts to take control of a situation, to bring about the result you desire. Your thoughts close in on the problem like ravenous wolves. Determined to make things go your way, you forget that I am in charge of your life.”
Wow ~ that sure does resonate and hit right at the heart of the problem, doesn’t it?
We somehow believe that God is not in the details; that He either does not care enough or is not interested enough in the things that rip us apart.
And yet Colossians 1:17 says: “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together”
Psalm 46:10 says: “Be still and know that I am God”
Luke 8:14 again reiterates that the word can be choked by worry but Luke 8:15 states that “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience”
…….”with patience,” I don’t know about you but that word trips me up. I desperately want what I want… now. Not later. The things that I pray about, that shred my heart are not things against God’s will: reconciled relationships, unity, hurt from the past to be restored. Even in these things God whispers to me, “Kimberly, wait… trust… watch and see what I will do in My timing and you will not believe what I have in store for you in these things you so desperately seek.” (Habakkuk 1:5.)
In Habakkuk, scripture goes on to say: “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end – it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.” Habakkuk 2:3
The things I desperately seek, pray and strive for; these will unfold in God’s timing. These things will not be delayed, they may not turn out the way I want them to but they will turn out……. In His timing, His perfect way.
When I look to these verses, when I cease striving, am still and remember that He is God, that is where I find peace. That is where I stop…. just stop and give it all to Him….. once again. And I pray that this is where He can use me to glorify Him.
No matter what my circumstances, no matter the fear and unrest, I can say along with Habakkuk:
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer’s; He makes me tread on my high places. (Habakkuk 3:17-19)
Whatever you are facing today; whatever unrest, whatever you are striving for; my prayer is that you will rest in Him. You will trust Him in every single circumstance and find that He is sovereign and holds absolutely everything together in His capable hands, may you find sweetness as you wait on His perfect timing and outcome.