The Enemy of Peace
If worrying about tomorrow has threatened your peace for today, the Bible offers guidance on how to break free from anxiety and embrace the gift of living fully in the present.
Embrace Today
So many people are struggling to live in peace because they are obsessed with the future. Humans tend to get fixated on the next thing, but in God, we are to be faithful to what He gave us today. During a new sermon series titled: “Daily Dose” Pastor Mike Signorelli teaches that the enemy of peace is one's obsession with tomorrow.
“Anxiety is living in a future that hasn't happened yet, but peace is worshiping God in the present moment,” Pastor Mike stated.
In Matthew 6:34 Jesus teaches His disciples not to be anxious about tomorrow because today has enough trouble of its own. Christ teaches those who follow Him to be concerned about present affairs and live fully in today. Today’s society is ridden with high anxiety which is brought on by being overly concerned. Followers of Jesus are to live by faith and trust God with the unknown. We are instructed not to get weighed down with thinking too far ahead because it spurs on anxious thoughts.
Calibrate Your Concern
There is a difference between genuine concerned and destructive concern. In Philippians 2:20. The Apostle Paul commends genuine concern as something to be trusted so we see through scripture that concern is on a spectrum. If you are overly concerned that brings on anxiety and being under concerned brings forth apathy. Pastor Mike says “both are wrong!”
In the original Greek writing of scripture, both the book of Matthew and Philippians use the word “concern” but the difference is the interpretation based on context of the passages. By using an illustration of drugs we see the root of why people take drugs can be different but the outcome is the same.
If we unpacked the Greek meaning of anxiety that word means to be drawn in many different directions. V1 Church's senior pastor declared that, “Obsessive concern is witchcraft.” He highlighted “multi-potentiality”, people that feel anxiety about being able to do multiple things but are not sure what main thing they should be doing.
The more we try to control things the less we trust God for those things and begin relying on others sources. If we do not give up control, however, we can not have the level of trust in the Lord that He desires of us. We are to trust in the Lord with our all and lean not on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). As a believer releases control, trust can increase.
Many times trusting God for the future feels frightening or uncertain but Christians have a “helper,” The Holy Spirit.
Manna Was a Test
In the Old Testament a great example of sufficient for the day can be seen in Exodus 16:4 when God provides the Israelites manna from heaven. The Lord said He was going to rain bread from heaven everyday as a daily test to the people.
“The daily bread was to test not to bless,” Pastor Mike pointed out. He encouraged the church to stop looking at life in seasons, but instead see them as semesters. It is important to note if we do not pass the test we will not graduate. As we see with the people of Israel, those who did not listen to God’s manna instructions, as a result, woke up to their bowls of manna filled with maggots.
Be Grateful for Today
In Hebrew, the word manna means “what is it?” The people of Israel may not have known what manner of bread manna was but should have thanked God for the provision. Pastor Mike said: “Some people want to be great without being grateful.” Nevertheless followers of God are called to be good stewards. Manna is not your forever meal but it's a semester that you have to pass.
Believers must get out of the trauma responses in our day to day lives. Being overly concerned about things in life or the people in our lives could be bringing on anxiety. King David felt anxious and fearful at times (Psalm 34:4) but in the midst of being stalked by Saul, he chose to be grateful and trust in God's nature. He said: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6).
We are to stop making excuses, stop taking on a victim mentality, trust in the Lord and His perfect will by accepting our daily manna/provision from heaven.
“Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’” —James 4:13–15
About the Author
Jeannie Ortega Law is a chart-topping singer, evangelist, media personality and author from New York City. She can be reached on social media: @JeannieOrtega or emailed at Info@JeannieO.com
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