CALM DOWN AND KNOW THAT I AM YOUR LORD!

CALM DOWN AND KNOW THAT I AM YOUR LORD!’

 

Yes, this is the beginning of a song that I sang many years ago. I use this song sometimes when I am in counselling. Many of those I talk to are stressed and some hyperventilate. They are so full of stress and fear. Others are so depressed that they sink down in apathy and depression. They are in a dark tunnel and they cannot see any way out of the tunnel. Some people feel that they are abandoned by God. They have become passive, but they haven’t calmed down and felt the presence of God.

The two previous times I have written about helping others, but that must not become a heavy burden. Christianity is the only religion offering a free gateway to heaven. It is based on grace and not on deeds. (Ephesians 2:8+9). We must be able to receive before we can give. We cannot give away something that we haven’t received.

I want to bring you to Philippians 4:6+7. We read there that we shouldn’t be anxious for nothing, but we should bring out requests to God with thanksgiving. That will result in a peace surpassing all understanding and it will guard our hearts and minds. I wrote about casting our worries on the Lord not too long ago. He cares for us. Worries are the opposite of peace and worries are not leading us to anything positive. If one worries, one needs to pray for help to do something about them. Worries steal our energy unless we act and change the situation.

We live in a stressful time. Both parents are working in many countries and one feel the need to be competent both at work and as parents. Small children need to be driven to kindergarten and later they need to be driven to all their activities. At home they need to cook food and they feel a command for healthy food. Media is constantly giving information about what is healthy and not. The demands are standing in queue. Have you thought of the order of the line? We read in Matthew 6:33 that we should seek His kingdom and His righteousness first and everything else will be added to us then. We are not seeking Him when we say: “be with me today” and then we run. I can almost hear that some of you getting angry now. “You must understand that I do not have the time to seek Him in the morning.” No, I do not understand that you can afford not to. We are often calling Jesus our Lord, but is that a phrase at a meeting or is He your Lord from the start of the day till you go to sleep? Jesus also wants to be the Lord over your sleep. Jesus lives in us, but He doesn’t run our lives unless we give Him permission. We decide His place during everyday life. Smith Wiggelsworth said that he didn’t pray for a long time, but he didn’t have a long time between his prayers. I do understand that we cannot pray all the time even if the Bible encourage us to do so. I do believe that we can pray in tongues and think about Jesus in the middle of other tasks. I converse with Jesus and ask for help, even practically during the day.

Long-term stress is harmful. It can make us sick. Stress produces poison. Why is yoga so popular? One reason is that the devil wants people to practice things coming from him, but another reason is that people are so full of stress and they want help for relaxation. Do you know that you can lay down and breathe deeply without yoga? I do that. God has created us for breathing and He wants us to calm down. As soon as I feel stressed, I try to sit down to breathe deeply and relax. I also ask God to help me to relax. I haven’t always lived like that and I had to live with the consequences then.

When you love somebody, you want to be together with that person. The Lord loves us and He wants to be together with us. Do we love Him? He wants to give us peace. He has lately said that I only should do the things He asks me to do and I will have success then. Many are too busy and so full of stress that they cannot hear what the Lord is saying. Some people envy me because I hear from God. He wants to talk to every one of His children. If it is too noisy in a room, it might be difficult to hear what people are saying. If there is too much unrest in a person, it might be difficult to understand what the Lord wants to convey. If you sit down with the Lord without a long list of requests, I think you are more heedful.

Do you know the Lord? It was written that we should calm down and then we would know the Lord. Who is He? Do I understand that He loves me and wants the best for me? Do I know Him as my Savior and as the One being with me in every situation? He has promised never to forsake us.

We can compare coming to Jesus as coming to an oasis. You can drink fresh water, fill up your energy-tank and take off all the burdens that others or you, yourself have put on you. His yoke is easy. The yoke of the devil is heavy.

ALLOW YOURSELF TO SPEND TIME WITH THE LORD!

 

Mother Else