When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me? (Ps 56:3-4)
At those moments when you’re afraid, is God trustworthy?
We were sitting on the eleventh floor, in the middle of a lunchtime Bible study. Suddenly the fire alarm went off. It was a loud,annoying, persistent beeping. After a few minutes, a voice came over the speaker.“An alarm condition exists elsewhere in the complex that is being investigated.”The beeps continued. Were we in danger? Could we trust the person investigating to warn us in time if we had to evacuate?
Fear is something like a fire alarm. We hear a rumor and we wonder if we are in danger. Or maybe we work for somebody who believes fear is the best way to motivate people to conform to the corporate expectations and we constantly are looking over our shoulder wondering if our performance is acceptable.
The Bible teaches us that we don’t have to fear man—for they cannot harm us. The Lord is your refuge. No matter what happens to you or your circumstances, nothing can separate you from God’s love. God’s love and acceptance is not dependent on your successes or failures. God’s love for you has not changed and will not change in the future. When you rest in the knowledge that your faith is secure you will find the peace, the strength and the courage to live out your convictions. Resting on the truth that our God keeps his covenant of loyal love with those who love him and observe his commandments (Deut 7:9) you can go about your work with a smile on your face, and peace in your heart.
God chose you because he loves you, and he loves you because he loves you and that’s that!
What courageous decision do you need to make,who do you need to speak to, what do you need to stop doing, or what next step do you need to take in your life to stand firm in Christ’s love in your place of work?
Prayer
Lord, you see the trouble, the hardship, the persecution, the famine, the nakedness, and the dangers we fear. Yet we thank you that through the death and resurrection of your son we are more than conquerors. Fill us with your peace and joy at work. Amen
Romans 8:35–39 (NIV)
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment