A culture of worry

I preached again yesterday, and I decided to focus again on the "Promised Land" in terms of what it means for us today - living our lives in light of God's promises.  I specifically chose three promises that Jesus made:  The promise of the Holy Spirit, the promise that He will provide for all our needs, and the promise of His peace.  I don't think I've ever had as much response to any message I've preached as I had yesterday and today - so this topic obviously struck a nerve.  I spent a lot of time talking about how fear most often shows itself in our lives, through worry & anxiety, and the need to control others.  Every day I can find dozens of examples of how we live our lives motivated and controlled by fear in some way.  I had a friend send me a text this morning, telling me how much he appreciated the message yesterday.  When I asked him what he appreciated specifically, he said this: "Everything.  We talked about it many times after church.  I personally was reminded to worry and have anxiety is futile.  My mom and wife are on meds to cope with anxiety, and now [their son] tells us that he has problems dealing with it.  Why has the American society turned to drugs instead of learning good techniques to handle anxiety?  I have to give everything to Christ, trust fully, and that control is an illusion.  He provides for our needs and many times our wants, even though that is not his promise [to provide our wants]."  I agree with him, except in one point:  I no longer believe that dealing with anxiety and stress is a question of learning coping techniques.  The only solution that Jesus offers is to TRUST Him and LET GO of the need to control our environment through worry or emotional manipulation.  True rest and peace only come when we're truly able to let go of the illusion (and it truly is an illusion) that we're in control of our lives.  I see this all the time in how our fears push us to want to control our environment or others through anger, emotional manipulation etc.  If God is truly God, then that means I'm not - and I can stop trying to play god in others' lives.  We just had a wedding in our team here, and weddings are where our propensity to control others rears it's ugly head with a vengeance.  Rather than allowing the bride and groom to plan the wedding according to THEIR desires and wishes (no matter what people say, I still maintain that the wedding is about the couple, not about the families) both families want to control who comes to the wedding, who doesn't come, who the bridesmaids and groomsmen are, what the flowers look like, who organizes the reception... and the list goes on.  I'm not saying that there shouldn't be some dialogue with the families, especially when the bride's parents are paying for most of it (usually).  But it seems to always end up as a power struggle, and how many couples would say that their wedding day was the most stressful day of their lives??  And it all comes back to FEAR:  we try to control others out of our own fears.  We've done it for so long that we don't even recognize when we're doing it - and we resist anyone who tries to point out our controlling tendencies.  Daphne and I were talking about this the other day, how we get it in our mind that the church "needs" to start X program or strategy (bible study, men's group etc) and we'll push and push and push until the pastor reluctantly agrees - and then only two people show up.  Was it worth it?  Not only did it not work, but we probably wounded the pastor and several other people in the process - and for what?  To get our own way?
What a difference it would make if we sensed a need, and we decide not to tell anyone about it - only the Lord.  We pray and we wait.  Sometimes for a long time.  If and when God decides to move, He has already created the felt-need in people's hearts, and the result can be a powerful movement for change.  Life just works out better when God is the one in control, not us.  The problem is that God is willing to use time to accomplish His purposes, and time is the one thing we won't give Him.

Jesus said, "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you REST"  Wow, rest seems to be a rare and virtually unknown commodity in our society today.  I really believe that the abundant life that Jesus promised in John 10:10 has more to do with living free from fear than anything else.  That life is out there, available to us right now if we're willing to give up the illusion that we're in control.