Freedom from Worry (Peace)

God’s been doing something awesome in my life: helping me overcome worry.

As I’ve shared before, for me worry comes in the form of thinking a million what ifs about a situation, surmising from A to Z without skipping any letters, I’ve put it before. At times I’ll say I’ve committed something to God, but in my mind I'll still wonder about all the possible outcomes, negative and positive, rather than just trust that God will accomplish His purpose - the best outcome.

Yet I recently noticed that for the last few months, I haven’t worried much about anything. Not that I haven’t had cares, but I’ve seen God take them away as I’ve meditated on His precepts more. I realized this a few weeks ago as I read Psalm 131, a short but powerful Psalm of David:

1 My heart is not proud, LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted myself,
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.
3 Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.

I was especially struck by the second part of verse 1 to the first part of verse 2: “I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself…” Then I focused on the refrain in verse 3: “Israel put your hope in the LORD, both now and forevermore.” As my devotional book also pointed out, rather than worrying himself with the burdens of life – including the “what ifs,” David recognized that they were beyond his control, “great matters or things too wonderful" (v.1). He let those cares go, putting them into the hands of the Maker. And he could urge Israel to do the same (v.3).

The mention of Israel, one word, is so striking here. The Nation of Israel, as we often hear, is the descendants of Abraham and God’s chosen people, through whom He sent Jesus. Because of Christ we have that same heritage. As I read “Israel” in this context, a verse from the New Testament came to mind about the status of believers in Christ, written by the apostle Paul to the Gentile Christians in Galatia:

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:28)

Romans 8:16-18 also says this about the nature of our status as heirs when we receive Christ:

“16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Present Suffering and Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

By receiving Jesus, we’ve become “co-heirs” – joint heirs – with Christ, through which, ultimately, we will not just see, but experience, His glory. We have that promise as children of God despite the challenges we may face in this life.

So, again, about this life? As David points out in Psalm 131, we don’t have to dwell on the things we experience or hear about that we can’t explain. Instead, we should put them in the care of The One who can explain them. It is only in heaven that we will have full knowledge when God reveals it to us. We are best off entrusting our worries to Him.

Reading Psalm 131, I was reminded how God has been using increases in my time in His Word, praising Him through song and listening to sermon podcasts to renew my mind and turn my focus to Him. I’ve been so much busier meditating on the things of God that I haven’t had time to worry. That’s the way God works – minute by minute – hour by hour - day by day – until we look back months or years later and are able to marvel on how He's been changing us. What an awesome God we call on!

Psalm 131 also reminded me of ”Unpredicatable,” a song by Francesca Battistelli, a contemporary Christian artist, that puts David’s words in a modern prayer. In the song she talks about how in life we often wonder what God’s doing or what His plans are, but in those moments she prays for God to give her His peace: “So help me to rest in the mystery of what I can’t understand...”

I love those words! As in Psalm 131, she recognizes that worrying about life is beyond her control, and that there’s a supernatural peace – a rest, that comes in the fact that we can entrust life to the Omniscient God. In fact, it can be exciting- a mystery – to see how God writes each page of the narrative of our lives. We might not know each chapter, but we know the ending will be blissful, as promised in 1 Corinthians 2:9 -

“However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”[a]—
the things God has prepared for those who love him”

That’s the beauty of the abundant life with Jesus. Ah, what freedom!

Here are the lyrics of “Unpredictable,” a Psalm 131 remix.

Let’s find freedom in resting in Him. He’s unpredictable, but He’s also perfect. Perfectly unpredictable.