Chuck Swindoll said that worry, stress, and fear are the thieves that rob us of our joy. I have personally been robbed many times by these 3 bandits. I struggle with all 3. The Holy Spirit tries to counsel me with scripture. 1 Peter 5:7:“Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” Hebrews 13:5b-6:“…for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man can do to me.'” 2 Timothy 1:7:“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline.” Philippians 4:6-7:“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” The Spirit of God is everywhere, so I try to feel His presence and hear His gentle voice counseling me to get rid of my worry, stress, and fear, but often that doesn’t help me. Why not? Probably b/c of my lack of faith and my shallow relationship with God and with the Spirit of God.

So what will help me? I know that when I am stressed out over something, I will go to my wife and she will say, “don’t even think about that; everything is going to be fine; quit worrying about that”. She might even give me a reason that I should not be worried. That helps me even if I’m not sure about her reason! I trust her emotions and faith more than I do my own.

Why can’t I turn to Jesus and listen to him telling me not to worry or stress out or be afraid? We read what Jesus said about these 3 things, but we tend to forget that he always gave counseling on these things as he was talking to his followers. They were having a panic attack in the middle of a storm at sea. Jesus asked the apostles, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”. They were afraid as the time for his crucifixion was about to happen. Jesus told them, John 14:27:“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” He was addressing the multitude but also this disciples in Matthew 6:²⁵ “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they? ²⁷ And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span? ²⁸ And why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth, ²⁹ yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! ³¹ Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ ³² For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. ³⁴ “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

If Jesus were sitting right in front of me on my couch right now, I think his words would, at least temporarily, remove all my worry, stress, and fear; just as my wife’s words help me. So the secret is to have such a relationship with Him that I can feel him sitting with me, talking to me, counseling me. That requires faith, b/c we walk by faith and not sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). When I panic, he is probably asking me the same question that the asked the apostles during the storm at sea, “”Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”. The secret is to feel His presence! As long as I can hear him say, “everything is going to be good; don’t worry; don’t be afraid”, then that’s all I need to hear. But it takes faith and a personal relationship with Him to sense him looking at me and saying thsee things to me.

Can you relate to any of this? I wrote this article for me. I get tired of all he worry, stress, and fear that I carry with me all the time. Those 3 things rob me of the joy and peace that Jesus brings to me. Christians should be the happiest people of earth. Isaiah 35: 10 “And the redeemed of the Lord will return
and come to Zion with joyful shouting; and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” This verse is describing those redeemed by the Messiah when he came. It is talking about the redeemed here on earth. They might cry and be sad, but inside they spiritual everlasting joy and peace. Or at least they should. Pew Research Center says that actively religious people are more likely than their less-religious peers to describe themselves as “very happy”. That’s good. But then it adds, “36% of the actively religious describe themselves as “very happy,” compared with 25% of the inactively religious.” So only a little over a third of active Christians describe themselves as “very happy”. A little better 11% better than the inactive religious people, but still only 1 out of every 3 active Christians (i.e. those who go to church, who profess a sincere faith in Jesus) are very happy. What about the other 2/3????? They are active religiously. They probably go to church regularly. They listen to sermons and attend Bible classes, but the other 2/3 are not “very happy”. Yet we have been blessed with so many material blessings in this country. Most of us have money, nice homes, medical insurance, plenty of food, cars, income, etc. But not “very happy”. You take a short mission trip overseas as one of our student groups just did to Ghana, Africa. They have very little but they are happy in the Lord. Their joy is obvious. They are not stressed out and worried about material things. They have that everlasting joy that many of us Christians do not have.

Let’s work on it, what do you say? Jesus, talk to me! Holy Spirit, move me! Father, comfort me!