11/25/2020 – Pastor Brian’s Blog –
Judy and I are currently watching a series on Hulu entitled The Murdoch Mysteries. It is a Canadian television drama series that premiered on January 20, 2008. It is based on a fictional character, William Murdoch, a police detective working in Toronto, Ontario in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Earlier this week we watched an episode where the plot was based on fear. One person had arachnophobia (the fear of spiders). Another person was plagued with equinophobia (the fear of horses). Another had pteronophobia (the fear of feathers) and the last character was controlled by anthropophobia (the fear of people). The premise of the story was that when fear is allowed to control a life, it never ends well.
There are many in our country today that are carrying a heavy burden: the burden of fear. There is fear regarding who will be our next president, there is fear about whether I or someone I love will be infected with a virus. There is fear about the future for our children, about the loss of a job, some fear whether or not we will ever return back to “normal.” And because of that fear, suicides are skyrocketing, child and domestic abuse are rising, drug overdoes are on the increase, churches are being divided, neighbors are turning against neighbors, much due to the heaviness of the burden people are carrying.
For the Christian this should not be. Instead of being downhearted and living in despair, we need to be giving thanks. Giving thanks because we are not required to carry our burdens…
Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Selah. (Psalm 68:19)
Cast your burden on the LORD and he will sustain you. (Psalm 55:22)
When anxiety (fear) was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. (Psalm 94:19)
Are there reasons to fear what is going on? Is there reason to fear for our children and grandchildren? Is there reason to fear for life itself? Probably, but it is a burden God never intended for us to carry. You and I cannot ultimately control what is happening in the world around us, but we do know the God who can.
Please understand that fear is not from God…
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
So if God has not given us the spirit of fear, then its source must be from Satan, our adversary. If in fact this is true and the Bible indicates that it is, how are we to respond? Not by carrying that burden, but by submitting to God and resisting the burden…
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7
Please don’t live your life as those characters did in The Murdoch Mysteries, where their lives ended with broken relationships, heavy burdens, an unwillingness to address their fears, and a distraught and meaningless life. Instead live in the sovereignty of God and watch your fear dissipate.
Are your burdens heavy? Whether it is the burden of fear or some other source for your burden, let it go and take God at His Word. Remember you are a child of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus withstood temptation; so can you! Jesus overcame sin and death; so can you! Jesus took on Satan and come out victorious; so can you! The question is never ‘can you?’ The question is, ‘when will you allow Jesus to help you?’
Life carries with it a lot of burdens, but if you cast your cares on the King of kings and Lord of lords, you too will say with the Psalmist…
Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Selah
Psalm 68:19
Remember Jesus cares for you more than you can imagine…
Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7
Things might not make sense. The goal might not seem attainable. The obstacle might seem impossible but know this: there is nothing God cannot do. He can even help you live a life that does not require carrying burdens.
Be thankful this Thanksgiving season that you have a God that is committed to you, and He is a God that is unlike any other gods…
