The very best prescription for banishing worry is found in Psalm 37:5: “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him and he shall bring it to pass”, the word ‘commit’ means, to turn over to, to entrust completely.
“Some years ago, someone gave my little boy a dollar. He brought it to me and said: ‘Daddy, keep this for me’. But in a few minutes, he came back and said, ‘Daddy, I’d better keep my own dollar.’ He tucked it in his pocket and went out to play. A short time later, he came back with tears in his eyes, saying, ‘Daddy, l lost my dollar. Help me find it.”
“How often we commit our burdens to the Lord and then fail to trust Him, by taking matters into our own hands. Then, when we have messed things up, we pray, ‘Oh Lord, help me, l am in trouble.’
Do we doubt God?
Remember now, the three steps are these: First, commit your way into the Lord; second, Trust it with Him, and third, He shall bring it to pass. This is another way of saying, ‘Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there”.
“I know that modern living taxes the faith of the greatest Christians, but none of us should doubt the ability of God to give us grace sufficient for our trials, even amid the stresses of this twentieth century.
“In the middle of our world troubles, the Christian is not to go about wringing his hands, shouting, ‘what shall we do?’ Having more nervous tension and worry than anyone else.
“The Christian is to trust quietly that God is still on the Throne. He is a Sovereign God, working out things according to His own plan.
“The scriptures today are being fulfilled, and if things were any different, we would be concerned. Christ predicted in the twenty fourth chapter of Matthew that all these things would come to pass.
Personal Peace
“Some section hands on a British railroad found a thrush’s nest under a rail and the hen peacefully sitting on the eggs, undisturbed by the roar of the fast trains above and around her. The Bible says: ‘Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee’.
Believe me, God’s grace is more than adequate for these times.
I am learning in my own life, day by day, to keep my mind centred on Christ and the worries and anxieties and concerns of the world pass away and nothing but ‘perfect peace’ is left in the human heart.
God has taken the responsibility for our care and worry. Who of us has not asked in times of affliction and difficulty – does God care for me?
The Psalmist voided the sentiments of many of us, when he said: “…refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul’. (Psalm 42:4).
“Martha, over concerned with her workday duties, said to Jesus: ‘Lord, dost Thou not care? How many faithful loving mothers, overwhelmed by the burdens of Motherhood have cried anxiously ‘Lord, don’t you care?’ The disciples, tossed by the turbulent sea cried: “Carest Thou not that we perish?’
“That question is, forever, answered in those reassuring words of Peter ‘He careth for you’. This is the word of God and the world will pass away, before it can be altered.
You can be positively assured that God does care for you and if God cares for you and has promised to carry your burdens and cares, then nothing should distress you.
And Example of Trusting
“The story is told of a little girl, who was crossing the Atlantic for the first time in an Airliner on which her father was the pilot. During the night, they hit some turbulent air. The stewardess awakened her and told her to fasten her seat belt, because they were in a bad storm.
“The little girl opened her eyes, saw the lighting flashing about the plane and said, ‘ Is Daddy at the controls?’ The stewardess replied, ‘Yes, your father is in the cockpit’. The little girl smiled, closed her eyes and went peacefully back to sleep.
“God is in the cockpit. God is piloting our lives. We can have peace and joy in the midst of the troubles and anxieties of life, if we put our trust in Him. But the questions I want to ask you, who are harassed by worry and anxiety are these: Are you a child of God? Are you in Christ? Have you put your life in His hands? If you haven’t, then your fears and difficulties are justified, for there is no security here or thereafter without him.
Put first things first
“We must cast our sins on Christ before we are eligible to cast our cares upon Him. We must first say, ‘Forgive us our sins’ before we can pray, ‘deliver us from evil’. This is the divine order. We must be in Christ before we can cast our burdens upon Him.”
The Bible says, ‘Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever’ (Hebrews 13:3). He is the Saviour of our yesterdays, forgiving and absolving our guilty past.
“He is the Christ of today, sharing our griefs and bearing our burdens. He is the Christ of the Future, Our Alpha and Omega, our joyous beginning and our glorious crowning.
“Do not look sorrowfully in the past; it comes not again. Wisely, improve the present by committing your sin and your burden to the Saviour. Then, with Him, go forth to meet the Future with Trust; because His the God of the Future.
My Decision
“Believing that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the Cross for me and is now living. I want this to be my ‘Hour of Decision’.
Acknowledging that, l am a sinner, l receive Jesus as my personal Saviour and will trust Him, rely upon him and adhere to Him as my Lord”.
The sermon ends today and, dear precious readers, hankering after the spiritual food of salvation, thank you for reading Christian beliefs and convictions of one of the renowned global personalities of God, the late Billy Graham (May his soul rest in peace in the serene bosom of our Heavenly Father).
May his rich Sermon impact positively on us, while on the Highways of this ephemeral life to the unknown, realising that The Gracious, The Omniscient, The Omnipotent and The Omnipresent God is always at hand to dry our falling tears of despair and desperation.
