Three weeks ago John Velsor spoke at our church. He was following Pastor Doug's series, called "The Game of Life". He talked about how Milton Bradley did not include many things in his game, like loosing your job, facing sickness, losing a parent, and on the list goes. He refered to John 16:33 (New International Version) "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Jesus was directing to the people that were there listening. We don't alway have peace when we go through hard times, but Jesus promised to give us peace.
John Velsor gave a definition of worry. Worry meaning to coak out life, to strangle. It also means tug-of-war. (John talked about how our fears pull us away from hope.)
He mentioned how in 2 Cor. 1:8 it says, "In fact we expected to die." In 2 Cor. 4:8 they were perplexed (meaning left wanting, embarassed, in doubt, not knowing which way to go). in Phil. 4:4 they rejoiced, acknowledging how God is. How wonderful to put our focus in the right place! A wonderful Savior who never changes. In the verses following there are some steps we can take.
John shared some things to do when we go through hard times:
1. Develope a praising heart. Our praise should not be determined by our circumstances. In Proverbs God promised to make our paths straight. We can ask Him to reign in our lives & circumstances.
2. Develope a habit of humility. (v.5) He guotd, "You know how spiritual you are by the way you accept correction from the person you respect the least."
3. Refuse anxiety and develope peace. We need to guard our heart & our mind and keep them on the same page. Most of the time we are worrying over things we have no control over. God promised to give us peace that passes all understanding. We need to keep our hearts focused on Him.
How wonderful it was to hear John's sermon, especially on the first Sunday after Jeff had just been laid off. It helped us both focus! We are trying to follow his words and keep our hearts & minds in line - keeping God's peace in our hearts.
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