Do Not Be Shaken

January 12, 2021 |  | Make A Comment | Words of Encouragement

          Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.                (Psalm 55:22)

We are surely in difficult times right now. Times that can shake us up and test our faith. Times that are confusing and clarity, wisdom and discernment are needed. Times that may leave us wondering…”where is God?”. I assure you, God is where He’s always been, on His throne and still in charge and He hasn’t forgotten us.

We are not going through anything that hasn’t been gone through before, although the Bible does tells us that we will go through difficult times more and more as we get closer to Jesus returning. God has been good to His people and has given us warnings about this so we can prepare our hearts. We can find these warnings in Matthew 24 when Jesus talks about the signs of the times and the end of the age. We can find it in Daniel and Revelations as well (just to name a few). God also provides comforting words when we go through adversity such as the following:

10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. (1 Peter 5:10)

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all. 20 He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. (Psalm 34:17-20)

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
God has also given us direction when we aren’t sure what to do:
9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
21Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:21)
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. (James 1:5-6)
God also lets us know that we are not alone and are going through the same thing others are going through:

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. (1 Peter 5:8-9)

In these most difficult times, we must remain steadfast in faith, knowing that our mighty king, Jesus, is standing with us. We must not be like the world though we live in the world:

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4)

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

The enemy will always seek to touch our emotions through our flesh because he knows that if he can rule our emotions, he can rule us. This is why we must crucify our flesh to the cross and seek to have self-control and all the fruit of the Spirit:

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:19-23)

We must keep our focus on Christ. When we take our focus off Christ and the mission, which is to spread the Gospel and lead people to Christ, we will sink into the waters of emotion and drown. We must remain above the waters and we can only do that by keeping our eyes on Christ. Remember, there were many things going on in the world when Jesus walked the earth. He was well aware of it. He confronted the issues when it was presented to Him or when He felt He needed to speak up about it, but He adhered to His Father’s command and continued on with the mission, allowing nothing to distract Him from it. We must also do the same.

Finally, we must try to live peaceably with others as much as we can. We must not avenge ourselves but allow God to take care of things. This is where we must have faith and trust in Him.

18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” (Romans 12:18-20)

We are all going through these times together. There are many who need comfort at this time, especially children. Reach out and offer that comfort. The Word of God is a healing and comforting Word. Share it with others so they too may be healed and comforted.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. 6 Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. (2 Corinthians 1:3-6)