Educational

Is There a Good Anxiety?

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Learn to Discern

In his book, Consider the Lilies, Jonny Ardavanis broadened my understanding by stating that the Greek word for anxiety, merimnao, in the New Testament is actually translated in different ways, “the first two being ‘care’ and ‘concern,’ and the third being ‘anxiety’ or ‘worry.’” The first two are good, and one is bad!

We have been going through Consider the Lilies in a ladies’ Bible study, and I was profoundly hit with the concept that there is a good anxiety.

I found this most intriguing. I have presumed that any concern or anxiety is always portrayed negatively. But this word, merimnao, can also be a positive thing. Let’s take a closer look.

In 2 Corinthians 11:28, Paul wrote that he felt anxiety for all the churches.

“And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me for my anxiety for all the churches.”

2 Corinthians 11:28

Most modern Bible versions translate the word Greek word “concern,” but it is the same word that is used for “anxiety.” Paul also uses this good concern in Philippians 2:20 – “For I have no one like him [Timothy], who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.”

Perhaps you feel this is just semantics, but like Jonny Ardavanis exhorts us: “Specificity of definition matters as it relates to any subject in the Bible – especially as it relates to the subject of anxiety and worry and the character of God.”

Maybe it is good to evaluate what kind of concern I have about things in my life. Is it a proper concern, or is it anxiety and worry?

Pulled Apart

One of the definitions of merimnao, is “to have the mind pulled apart, cut into pieces, distracted or divided by worries.” In the 17 times that this word is used in the New Testament, 12 of those times it is used in a negative light. That concern has moved into an ungodly worry.

  • Matthew 6:25 – Do not worry about your life…
  • Luke 10:41- Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things….
  • Philippians 4:6 – Do not be anxious about anything……

What Makes Concern Sinful?

So how can I know when my positive care or concern moves into ungodly worry and anxiety? This is a crucial skill we need to develop.

There is no doubt that we will encounter things that create care and concern for us. The Lord knows that. So how can we put up an alarm within ourselves when we start to migrate towards anxiety and worry?

A good visual is that of a stagnant pool compared to a flowing stream.

If we feel that we have to rely on ourselves and not include God in our considerations, we isolate ourselves and are like that smelly, stagnant pool. God does not see. God does not care. God is angry or displeased with me and is getting back at me. I have to fix this problem, and if I can’t, then there is basically no hope. I am alone, and I just can’t cope with this.

Contrasted with that, is when water is moving, flowing like a stream that is fed by many springs that flow into it. I am not alone with my problem in a stagnant pool. God is there. God’s Word is there. God’s Spirit is there. God’s purposes are there. God’s promises are there. The hand of God’s meticulous providence is there, limiting and guiding. God’s Throne room is open to me at an instant. God has the answer, or God is the answer. He can fix hearts. He can fix my heart. For all these reasons, I can begin my prayer with thanks. Then I will pour out my heart … and wait on Him.

When we loose reliance on God and that He is in control, we stew around and around trying to fix things ourselves. Basically we are saying that we don’t trust God or He doesn’t exist – acting like a functional atheist.

Certainly we need to do our responsibility to try to find solutions if that is within our proper power to do so, but we have to watch what we are relying on. The Lord reminds us in Proverbs 3:5 to not lean on our own understanding. I don’t have to figure it all out. We have to remember to trust the Trustworthy One.

It has to do with what we think about. We tend to meditate and focus too much on the problem, and if there is ambiguity about the future, we indict God and presume that He will probably send the worst possible outcome, and all will be sorrow and misery.

Instead, God tells us to pour out our burdens to Him with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6). Sure, we will feel concern over troubling things, but after we have done what we can, we need to truly, really, REALLY leave it with the Lord who can do so much more than we can.

We often begin with harmless considerations and care, but it transforms to something ugly.

The Three Checkpoints

There are three checkpoints that can protect me from the sinful anxiety.

In Matthew 6:25 our Lord Jesus gives us some wonderful advice.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

Context is the key to any verse. If we examine the verses that come prior to this command about not being anxious (Matthew 6:19-24), we will discover these three checkpoints.

FIRST CHECKPOINT: Examine what I treasure in my mind (vv. 19-21). One question that I use to identify those treasures is checking to see what I dream about when my mind is free. It is ok to think about earthly things as long as I always frame those things in what the Father’s will is for me. Maybe I am dreaming about having all my family together, for example, but I must hold that desire with an open hand because it may not be the Father’s will that it happen.

“The surest path to anxiety is to forget that we are pilgrims just passing through this life, and in turn, we stop living for the “better country” (Hebrews 11:16)

Jonny Ardavanis

SECOND CHECKPOINT: Examine what my eyes look at (vv. 22-23). You may argue that it doesn’t matter what I look at, but I would beg to differ. Our vision is the #1 input into the mind. Those images go into my soul. It may not be porn, but it could be clothes or fancy houses or travel or anything that looks so beautiful and desirable. If the Father wants me to have it and has already provided, then go ahead and look. If it is His Word, spend a lot of time looking. Dream the dreams that He dreams for you. But if it is not for you, guard your heart and don’t look at things He would not want you to look at.

Ardavanis warns that pornography has seemingly a direct correlation with people experiencing anxiety. Alluring our eyes to forbidden fruit and the false protection of the anonymity of a dark and secret world lays a trap that ensnares our souls in a deep and harmful manner. Unconfessed sin can rob a person of joy and peace (Psalm 51:12) and pull them into the depression of perpetual defeat.

Instead turn your eyes upon Jesus… things of the earth will grow dim.

“Although pornography promises an “escape,” all it truly does is perpetuate the prison of anxiety and despair.”

Jonny Ardavanis

THIRD CHECKPOINT: Examine who is my Master (v. 24)? What wins when it comes head-to-head with God? If I know what God wants me to do, and I don’t do that, what or who won? Whatever won is an idol sitting on the throne in my heart; it is my Master.

Could you have a different Master in your heart? Control? Bitterness? Unforgiveness? Fear? Comfort?

Th(i)nkful

Choosing to think thanks to God for everything as He commands, has a direct link to fighting the wrong kind of anxiety. He wants us to be quick to see His hand and to trust His character because we know Him. It is rooted in the full trust of God’s sovereignty. Yes, God may allow great sorrow in our lives, but He is always in control.

“We don’t always know why God allows evil. But we do know that God Himself is always good. Furthermore, we know this: God never allows any evil to take place that does not facilitate a greater good that could not have happened unless that evil had taken place.”

Scott Christensen

What do you know to be truth? Are you conscious of the warm-glow of His face on you (because Jesus made you spotless)? Are you meditating on God’s purposes for you at this very second? He’s your Dad if you have been adopted into His family. You can trust Him. If He takes care of the lilies of the field, He is going to take care of you.

All our anxieties are an invitation to draw closer to God by fixating our gaze on Him.

Information for this post was excerpted from “Consider the Lilies,” chapter 4, by Jonny Ardavanis

Full Grown

/ thinkfulkarin / 4 Comments

Growing in Appreciation

“David, come look! See that bud right there? I planted that plant recently and look how it has grown and is getting ready to put out its first bloom. So beautiful!”

We live in a flat beside the Indian Ocean. I do not have really any earth that belongs to us except for garden containers on our balcony. But it is amazing what you can do with containers! I love to see my flowers pop up, mature, and thrive. Sometimes I have to prune heavily due to fungus or other things that are making plants deteriorate. Breaking up the soil to aerate it, and watering regularly, give a good probability that the flower in time will bud and bloom.

Remembering Pleasures

Do you take time to remember and ponder things that God has blessed you with? I have been meditating on this quote lately.

A pleasure is not full grown until it is remembered.

C. S. Lewis

We often think of pleasures just past as now fading, wilting, and dying, but Lewis says “no.” Bringing back to mind a pleasure, some happy thing, can be compared to bringing that pleasure to maturity.

No wonder God tells us to be thankful in all circumstances. When we reminisce about things that He has done for us, it brings that pleasure to full growth. The beauty is that in thankfulness, a memory continues to bloom and bloom and bloom throughout eternity. God’s pleasures don’t have an expiration date. Just a fuller satisfaction as time marches on.

The Hebrew Practice of Dayenu

Have you heard of the word dayenu? I had not. It was new to me.

“Dayenu” (meaning “it would have been enough”) is a 1,000-year-old traditional Jewish song and spiritual practice sung during the Passover Seder. It expresses profound gratitude for God’s blessings during the Exodus, listing 15 acts of liberation—from slavery to receiving the Torah—affirming that each blessing would have been enough, even if the journey had stopped there, but God kept on blessing.

Your Own Dayenu

Do you have a plan or tradition to initiate remembering? Churches practice the Lord’s Supper as a reminder to remember. Could you or your family or church do a dayenu regarding Jesus’ life and death? Try it some time!

Do you have a quiet time in the morning in which you can muse about God’s character and the amazing things He has done for humanity? He is not a distant, angry God. Our God loves. Our God plans. Our God came near. Our God became one of us. Our God teaches. Our God heals. Our God serves. Our God saves. Our God makes promises. Our God keeps promises. Our God is steadfast love and faithfulness. Our God is victor. Our God intends to dwell again with us. Our God cannot be stopped.

The mind will not automatically accrue information on the character of God. You need to renew your mind in the Word. It takes intentionality. David just finished teaching Bible Doctrine 1 in Uganda. The students worked hard. The hours were long, and it was hot. They learned about the character of God. We discussed that these character traits were not just lists to memorize, but were fuel for vibrant worship.

I love learning more about our incredible, marvelous Creator God. Learning is step 1; remembering is steps 2, 3, 4, 5 and so on. We must practice remembering the wonderful truths about our Redeemer and keep the pleasure of who He is and what He has done alive and growing.

Frangipani

Pleasures Full Grown

Thank You…..

for your genius, creativity, and power in the creation

for Your sovereignty over the affairs of men and nations, and my little life

for Your hesed, your steadfast love for us

that You never lie and are completely trustworthy in your timing and choices

that You know the end from the beginning

that you are not a meager God who can be figured out

that You made us in Your image and likeness

that you didn’t stay offended and aloof, but came to reconcile us to Yourself

That you sent Jesus to come as a baby, live a perfect human life and die as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, and rise again victorious over death, sin, hell, and the evil one

that You provide for Your own

that You know every smallest detail and how it all fits together

that you give us the ability to remember the pleasures you give us, and to enjoy them all over again through gratitude!

Anxious or Anchored?

/ thinkfulkarin / Leave a comment

We Are No Strangers to Storms

The wind was howling. Its strength visible by the leaning of the trees along the coast of the Indian Ocean. Storms here come in such varieties. Some park over the sea and churn buckets of water on the earth below reshaping large rivers and beaches overnight. Some have gusts that shake the very foundations of the earth, twisting infrastructure and edifice alike. And some have all of the above.

How do you feel in a storm? Do you remember cosy times cuddled by a fireplace reading and not worrying an iota? Perhaps you have a different recollection of a storm that wreaked havoc on your life and took precious things from you?

Rescue workers go on high alert during such storms. They have been trained to know what are the first and foremost things to get accomplished. They have tools and equipment that are essential, and tough vehicles that can chew their way through the rubble and high waters to get into ravaged places to rescue the perishing. So thankful for these people.

How wise is the person that prepares ahead of the storm so that when it hits, he is ready. This is true when you are at sea perhaps more than any other place. Whereas the ground tends to be firm, and can even be burrowed into for safety, the sea can be a merciless place that tosses you about for days and even weeks without a break.

Almost the very definition of hopelessness is someone adrift at sea in a horrible storm with no motor, no sails, no oars, and no anchor.

Anchored

Maybe you feel that a storm is raging inside you. Outside, you may appear just fine to others. But in your thoughts and emotions, you are in a horrible storm battling the foreboding winds of change, loss, challenge, or uncertainty. Dark clouds on the horizon vow that even more is coming. Alone, your tears fall like heavy rain. Your thoughts spin and lurch like a rudderless ship with the sails all torn. Hope seems like a bad joke. You don’t know what to think or do next. I know. I have been there, too.

Credit: J. H. Brown

Emotions are real, but they are not reality. When we are in a storm, we must send our minds down beyond our circumstances, down to a deeper reality … and give our emotions a bit of time to follow. You see, we have an anchor. Our minds have a chain of truths that go down deep and are connected to an anchor set firmly into a Rock that does not move. We are connected. We are held. We belong. We are tethered in the storm by the Author and Measurer of the storm. The storm teaches us the power of the Rock and underscores the need for a good anchor that can hold us fast in the dreadful waves that throw our souls back and forth. ⚓️

“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,”

Hebrews 6:19

Go from Anxious to A.N.C.H.O.R.E.D.

I came across a helpful tool recently. It gives a simple reminder to the person who is the midst of a storm of anxiety, but desires to gradually leave that state and feel anchored.

A — Acknowledge God’s Sovereign Presence — Psalm 23:4; Psalm 139:1-12; Joshua 1:9; Isaiah 41:10,13; Psalm 46:1

N — Name the Fears and Lies Beneath the Anxiety — Psalm 139:23-24; Psalm 19:14; Lamentations 3:40

C — Confess Unbelief and Self-Dependence — I John 1:9; Psalm 32:5; Psalm 51:10; Proverbs 28:13

H — Hold Fast to God’s Promises in Christ — Proverbs 3:5; Isaiah 26:3; Hebrews 10:23

O — Orient Your Mind to Scripture — Lamentations 3:21; Psalm 119:11; Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2

R — Redirect Desires Toward God’s Kingdom — Colossians 3:1-2; Matthew 6:33; Psalm 37:4

E — Entrust Cares to God Through Thankful Prayer — Philippians 4:6; Psalm 37:3,5; I Peter 5:7; I Thessalonians 5:16-18; Psalm 28:7; Colossians 4:2

D — Do the Next Faithful Step — Psalm 37:23; Proverbs 3:6; Micah 6:8; Philippians 3:13-14; Proverbs 4:25-27

@Biblical Counselors Society

Are You Anchored?

You may think you are anchored, but when a raging storm threatens your tranquility, your anxieties become apparent. Perhaps your anchor and chain of truths are not sufficiently strong. Perhaps they are not set into the Rock but are unhelpfully dragging along the bottom. You are being thrown and tossed, bruised and broken.

The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life in it a disappointing and unpleasant business, for those who do not know about God. Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you.”

J. I. Packer,

Knowing God

The world experiences peace circumstantial, but the Christian’s peace is not anchored in happenstance or circumstance but in the character of our Heavenly Father.”

Jonny Ardavanis, Consider the Lilies

“Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.”

2 Thessalonians 3:16

I want to end by encouraging you to write out the acronym for A.N.C.H.O.R.E.D. and look up the verses that support it. It will be a step of establishing a secured anchoring in TRUTH.

Christ The Sure And Steady Anchor

Christ the sure and steady anchor in the fury of the storm
When the winds of doubt blow through me and my sails have all been torn
In the suffering, in the sorrow when my sinking hopes are few
I will hold fast to the anchor, it shall never be removed

Christ the sure and steady anchor while the tempest rages on
When temptation claims the battle and it seems the night has won
Deeper still then goes the anchor though I justly stand accused
I will hold fast to the anchor, it shall never be removed

Christ the sure and steady anchor through the floods of unbelief
Hopeless, somehow, o my soul now lift your eyes to calvary
This my ballast of assurance see His love forever proved
I will hold fast to the anchor, it shall never be removed

Christ the sure and steady anchor as we face the wave of death
When these trials give way to glory and we draw our final breath
We will cross that great horizon, clouds behind and life secured
And the calm will be the better, for the storms that we endured
Christ the shore of our salvation, ever faithful, ever true
We will hold fast to the anchor, it shall never be removed

Matt Papa

Credit: Nora Brown

What are You Feeding on?

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What Goes in, Comes out

Oh, just give it a break! I want to relax and just veg out for a while.

Vegetate means to relax in a completely passive or mindless way.

“I am so weary and tired. I can’t think straight. Just need to refuel and restore.”

These are such common phrases. Our jobs, families, schools, and ministries are demanding and pushing us to perform, even through stress and discomfort. No wonder we have a desire to veg out.

May I please alert you‼️

When you are vulnerable and passive, there is danger lurking. Yes, you do need to rest and restore, but be careful how.

Whatever we passively allow into our minds will actively affect us. It goes into the database of the soul, our minds, and begins to influence us.

“The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge,
but the mouths of fools feed on folly.”

Proverbs 15:14

Feeding as Meditating

We are what we think about.

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:“

Proverbs 23:7 (KJV)

But the motivator for what we think about is our heart. We think what we think because our hearts want what they want. The heart determines what we feed on in the idle moments. Sometimes it’s not bad. We just need to check it.

Absent strong medication, most of us can’t go into a state of just not caring. The mind will receive input even if we are not seeking to actively acquire knowledge.

The area to continually check is our hearts. What do I really want in my heart?

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

Proverbs 4:23

News?

For so many of us, conditioned for years by 24-hour news and social media, our hearts want us to be informed. Many don’t want to find out the latest shocking events one or two days later. AI evaluated a number of sources to report where 18-24 year olds get their news.

Fascinating!! What you read and see surely will color the way you perceive something.

In the olden days, it was the town crier calling people out into the town square to share news.

That is where we get the word for “church.” Ekklesia means “called-out ones” – people called out of their homes and businesses to gather together in the town square to hear the news and official announcements.

When Jesus came as the true Messiah, many had not heard the news. The news of the gospel was to be proclaimed everywhere. That news is still being shared all over the world. One by one or in big groups the gospel is declared.

As Western culture moved into the 18th century, the printed page became popular as a source of news. People would buy gazettes and then newspapers.

Whatever was printed in the newspaper or broadcast of the radio hourly was carefully curated and presented to us as objectively as possible. What we read or heard in those days we took at face value. It had authority.

Today we have a superabundance of ways to get information, and in this populist era, everyone has a voice, and mainstream legacy media outlets, discredited as authorities, are seen as just a few of thousands of biased voices with hidden agendas. No one can be trusted. Difficult as it may be, we use discretion in the selection of our sources, and be careful of our level of daily intake.

Guidelines for the Mind

Our Father in heaven who has created us and controls all things, has given us guidelines for how to walk worthy in the Christian life.

He encourages us to renew our minds often.

” 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

Firstly, we need the fresh water of the Word of God every day to satisfy us and renew our perspective (John 4:10). I have a morning appointment with the Creator … like at 6 am at the breakfast table, He is waiting for me. I need to talk with Him and hear from Him before jumping into news or texts.

Secondly, we need to view current events with the glasses of thinkfulness. God has given us His Word as an anchor (Hebrews 6:19) and light for our path (Psalm 119:105). He says to think thanks for everything.

“… giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Ephesians 5:20

Thirdly, build up your “big God” belief system. Have you compared the amount of time you spend getting news with the amount of time spent on a sovereign God who is orchestrating all of those events in the news towards fulfilling His plans and purposes (Daniel 4:34-35, Acts 17:26-27)?

Many Christians have a “small God” – a God who is overworked and distracted and not paying sufficient attention to some details. They are more oriented horizontally than vertically. They care a whole lot more what people around them think about something compared to what the Lord thinks about the same thing. God warns us that the fear of man brings a snare, but whoso trusts in the Lord will be safe (Proverbs 29:25).

We need to move to a “big God theology” and to a vertical orientation, confessing what is true from heaven’s standpoint. God is infinite mind (never misses the smallest detail). God has steadfast love and faithfulness toward His children (micro-orchestrating every detail in our lives, struggles, and deaths for our good and His glory). And God is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent (ruling over the affairs of men and nations – those that are war-torn and those that smugly feel they have achieved utopia).

Recently I was made aware of how trusting completely in God’s sovereignty actually helped two friends of mine who had gone through the loss of a spouse. They grieved, but there was hope in that God was working a plan, and His peace and plan eased their suffering sooner than others around them. We cannot always see His plan behind the path that He chooses for us, but He asks us to trust Him (Isaiah 43:2).

Fourthly, roll over your soul-weights and anxieties on the Lord, with thanks. When the Lord tells us not to be anxious in Philippians 4:6, He gives a way to process our concerns. He encourages us to bring our burdens and troubles to Him wrapped up in thanksgiving.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Remind yourself that God CAN be trusted in every detail. Give thanks for the Lord delivering us from the dominion of darkness and transferring us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption (Colossians 1:13-14).

Fifthly, be discerning. How can a person know where to “feed?”

  • First of all, pray that God would give you wisdom and guide you.
  • Seek godly counsel from trusted mentors.
  • Curate your feed. Unfollow accounts that bring anxiety and follow accounts that edify.
  • Limit your time and platforms.
  • Turn off notifications.
  • Engage in real-life activities.
  • Consider a tech Sabbath – no phone from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown.

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

Colossians 3:2

Eat healthy!!

God’s Journal

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Thankful Remembrance

“Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name.”

Malachi 3:16

God is God. He doesn’t need to write something down to remember it. But this passage states that God is listening to certain human beings. He listens with interest and delight as believers who are in awe of Him talk about Him and think of ways to honor His name. He has ordered that a “book of remembrance” be written about those believers. It seems that this is His ongoing journal covering centuries of conversations between believers.

There are a few verses that talk about books in the Bible:

  • Exodus 32:32 says that Moses referred to God’s book
  • Psalm 56:8 refers to a book where the Lord keeps count of our tears
  • Psalm 69:28 references a book of the living
  • Daniel 7:10 says the books being opened
  • Daniel 12:1 mentions names being written in a book
  • Revelation 13:8 mentions the Book of Life
  • Revelation 20:12 mentions the books being opened
  • Revelation 20:15 The Book of Life and the books are opened

It is interesting to note that ancient kings, like the kings of Persia, had books to keep track of memorable deeds that needed to be rewarded.

On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. And the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?”

Esther 6:1-3

In Malachi, God is dealing with Israel because of their sin. He addresses their empty, hypocritical worship, teaching error, adultery and murmuring. But then as a great encouragement He says that He has been listening to the faithful ones. Of course nothing is hidden from the Lord. He sees our hearts and motives. He knows us better than we know ourselves. But He has apparently directed an angelic scrivener to keep an ongoing Book of Remembrance about the faithful ones and their conversations.

God is thinking thanks!! What!?

The Lord states that He remembers. He even says that those who feared the Lord and spoke to each other about God would not only be remembered, but also be His own special and treasured possession, like jewels were in ancient times.

They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.

Malachi 3:17

The Lord God doesn’t need to thank anyone. He is the author of all! He deserves the praise, the gratitude, the worship. That is why it is so fascinating that He, God, would “write down” the names of the faithful ones.

Searching For My Name

But … is my name in His journal? If I could do a word search, could I even find my name? If so, what was the quality of my words, and were they unmixed with self-interest? How many times has He listened while I spoke to others about Him with joyful amazement and high esteem?

Or have my sentiments about the Lord and His works just been private and kept to myself? Private feelings don’t get recorded. A journal entry requires the Lord to hear us talking to each other about Him.

Your Book

To be “godly” is to be “god-like.” God keeps a journal of people and conversations He is thankful for. Do you have a book of remembrance? Do you write down things for which you are remembering to think thanks?

I also wonder if those words in Malachi 3:16-17 were written for us to remember that God will reward righteousness. The Bema Seat is coming. And the beauty in all this is that whatever we thought, said, or did that was pleasing to the Lord we could do only with His help. Yet, He says that we will be spared as a man spares his only son.

The Lord Jesus exhorted His disciples to rejoice because their names were written in heaven (Luke 10:20). In Colossians 1:12-14 the Lord exhorts us to give thanks because He has delivered us from the domain of darkness.

“… giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.“

Delayed

God’s reward is delayed. It is like the student that works hard all year and then at graduation is granted an award. The Israelites in Malachi had grown weary from waiting on the Lord. They felt like He didn’t see, He didn’t really care. They grew envious of the wicked.

We, too, can begin to grow weary and feel like it doesn’t really matter. “The Lord doesn’t see what I do, what I think about and treasure in my heart.” But that is a LIE! He does see. He does know all things, and nothing can be hidden from El Roi (the God who sees).

Be encouraged, you who fear, esteem, and converse! The Lord knows who you are, faithful ones. He will remember and reward. He wants us to keep on keeping on till the end. Even our precious Lord Jesus kept the end in view.

“looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:2

Start them young!!

Josh Sullivan’s Miracle

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A Kidnapped Missionary

When Pastor Josh Sullivan was knocked in the head and kidnapped right from the pulpit in his church, he had no idea of what lay ahead for him.

Josh and his family came to serve the Xhosa people in South Africa. They learned the language and sought to share the good news of the gospel.

The township of Motherwell where the Sullivans ministered was a high risk area. The people there were well acquainted with theft and unsafe conditions.

The Sullivans knowingly came anyway. They loved the people there.

On April 10, 2025, Josh had just started to speak when four men entered the hall. At first it was not clear why they had come, but it did not take long before their purpose became evident. The men had guns and proceeded to confront Josh. They asked him if this was his wife after grabbing Meagan. They then hit Josh over the head and he fell down almost blacking out. Meagan was also pushed to the floor. Their children and the rest of the church were left alone, just staring eerily.

Josh was forced up, down the aisle amid the whimpers of his children, and out of the building into his own car and they drove away.

The Wait

For 122 hours everyone waited. Josh also waited in a distant house as his captors let the authorities know their demands for money. The news hit social media and then the mainstream media, and people all over the world prayed earnestly for God to protect and free Josh. They prayed for safety for Meagan and the kids. They prayed for God to be glorified through this very difficult, challenging situation.

The authorities were working behind the scenes. The kidnappers were trying to negotiate a ransom for Josh’ life. Some were starting to gather funds.

This is a very tricky problem in mission work. Most mission organizations don’t pay ransoms. It opens up a whole can of worms. If money can be acquired through this means, every missionary in the country becomes a target, and there’s almost no end to the nightmares that could flow from that. We, as fellow missionaries, were praying for great wisdom for the negotiation team, hoping that law enforcement would find Josh before money was paid.

Josh’s feet and hands were tied, and he was hooded. He was kept in the back room of the house. They threatened him, but did not harm him. They offered water and food, and allowed Josh to use the bathroom.

The Miracle

On Tuesday, April 15th, the kidnappers told Josh that he needed to get to the car.

Josh had noticed they were cleaning a lot that day, washing and wiping things down. As they moved toward the garage in the darkness, Josh fell two times. One time it took a while for him to get back up. Three of the men got in the car, two in the front and one in the back with Josh. Josh had a hood over his head and had his head down in the lap of the guy in the back seat.

Josh realized that there were two other guys outside. One opened the garage door. The car pulled out into driveway. Then the car stopped as someone opened the gate at the front wall. At that point, Josh heard the three guys jump out of the vehicle and 20-some shots were fired for about 2-3 minutes. Then everything was quiet.

Josh heard footsteps approaching the car and he prayed to God that it would be a “good guy.” The door opened and the policeman was shocked to see Josh there. He paused, a bit confused, and then said, “Are you the American pastor?” Josh responded that indeed he was. Josh got out of the car, fell to his knees and prayed and cried thanksgiving to God.

The miracle is that the four policemen who pulled into that exact driveway were actually lost and trying to turn around. They were following a tip on a vehicle, but had made a wrong turn. When they pulled into the driveway, they were shocked to see three men get out of their vehicle and begin shooting. The other two guys that were in the garage and opened the gate got away, but the three kidnappers were killed.

The next day when Josh was being debriefed by the South African police and the FBI, that same initial policeman came up to Josh. He wanted to tell Josh that he knew he was a praying man and that it was a work of God that they happened to be there exactly at that time. So, Josh tripping two times on his way to the car, was all part of the perfect timing of our incredible God. This was a fine-tuned rescue by the Sovereign God.

https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=josh%20sullivan%20kidnapping&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:3df28323,vid:kMr5H-kwNsc,st:0

Thinkful

As the world watches this news story and the TV interviews that followed with great interest, both Josh and his wife Meagan want to be very careful to give thanks to God. This was not the FBI or the CIA. This was not even “just a coincidence” as humans might try to call it. This was an answer to the prayers of thousands of people.

God rescued Josh!

We thank Him that it was His will for Josh to be released. We know that God is good all the time, and would be good even if there had been a different ending to this story. But this time God chose to free His servant and let him rejoin his wife and children. We thank Him. We praise Him. We rejoice in the gospel message going out all over the world through this event.

“Bring me out of prison,
that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
for you will deal bountifully with me.”

Psalm 142:7

Let us continue to pray for Josh and his family. Processing trauma takes time.

  • Pray specifically that they will hold their thoughts captive to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)
  • Pray for them to think on truth and not on “what if’s” (Philippians 4:8)
  • Pray for God to receive much glory from this miracle (Psalm 145:3)

Thankfulness – The Firstborn Child

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A Triple Command

GOD: “My child, I want you to have joy all the time, pray without stopping, and think thanks for everything!”

ME: What? Non-stop? Sounds a bit unrealistic, don’t you think? How can you ask that of me? You know how difficult, irritating, and frustrating life can be? How dreary and mundane routines can seep all my strength down to the bones?

The Lord is kind to us. He knows our frame. He remembers we are dust (Psalm 103:14). He also knows the power of being renewed in our mind to think on truth, so in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, He gave us one of the two most direct commands to be th(i)nkful in all the New Testament.

A Closer Look at the Three

REJOICE ALWAYS. Rejoicing is the outflow of joy inside. Joy is my calm enthusiastic confidence in the presence of God’s face shining on me, the goodness of God’s character, and the perfection of God’s sovereign plans generally and for me specifically. As part of the fruit of the Spirit, it comes from His help inside my heart and mind no matter what is happening around me (Romans 5:3, 2 Corinthians 6:10, James 1:2).

Happiness is tied to happenings. Joy comes from the faces of precious people – this is a theme throughout Scripture. When you spend more time on your face seeking His face, you realize that our struggles are for a host of greater goods – developing character and steadfast consistency, drawing us closer to Him and each other, giving us a chance to advance the gospel, etc. There is not one thing that God does to us because He is evil or angry with us. Every good or bad thing – always – is from His love for us and His desire for our Christlikeness.

PRAY CONSTANTLY. This carries the idea that you practice God’s presence beside you, as though you are in an ongoing conversation with Him throughout the day. Don’t stop praying. Don’t imagine He is not there. See your good health, or your stumbling upon a great sale as gifts from His hand. When the tire goes flat, or the bride abandons the wedding, immediately ask what He wants you to do or say. Your life, your days, must be an ongoing conversation between you and your Creator-Father who doles out enormous wisdom to those who ask for it (James 1:5, Luke 18:1-8).

GIVE THANKS IN EVERYTHING. When you have a “big God theology,” believing that God is the author, orchestrator, and fine-tuner of every circumstance of your life – AND you have a calm enthusiastic confidence that His face is shining on you, AND you are talking to Him non-stop as you move through your days – you see things not just as good, but from the One Who is good and defines good. They might be little things like smelling blooms or big things like getting pregnant after a decade of waiting and praying. You are not just “thankful for” these things, you are “thankful to” Him. This thankfulness also loops back around and gives you more joy.

Thankfulness As A Firstborn Child

Here is what the Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon wrote:

“The more we pray, the more we rejoice. Prayer gives a channel to the pent-up sorrows of the soul; they fly away, and in their place, streams of sacred delight pour into the heart. At the same time, the more rejoicing, the more praying. When the heart is in a quiet condition and full of joy in the Lord, then also will it be sure to draw near to the Lord and worship. Holy joy and prayer act and react on each other.

Observe, however, what immediately follows in the text: ‘give thanks in everything.’ When joy and prayer are married, their firstborn child is gratitude. When we joy in God for what we have, and believingly pray to him for more, then our souls thank him both in the enjoyment of what we have and in the prospect of what is yet to come.”

Putting It into Practice

Recently it was discovered that my dear husband needed a three-hour delicate surgery. It was a rare disease that had affected his ear. As we readied ourselves to travel seven hours to the city that offered this operation with an expert in this area, our hearts felt a bit anxious and overwhelmed. There was some warning that this cholesteatoma could break through the lining of the brain.

What a perfect opportunity for us to put into practice what we know to be truth! We indeed tried to pray without ceasing – a constant awareness of walking with the Lord and talking to him. The rejoicing was a byproduct of realizing that God loves us and is in control, no matter the outcome. We could rejoice in His promise to never leave, nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

As they wheeled David back into theatre (surgery) I was able to think thanks by beginning to write down things for which I gave praise to God.

As the hours went on, my list got longer.

David made it through the surgery and they were able to remove the disease and spare the lining to the brain. As we returned to our little room close to the hospital where we spent 10 days of healing before the follow-up appointment, David wanted to add more the thinkful list. Truly we had so much for which to think thanks.

Now, let me make it clear, that everything is not a bed of roses. In the past week, we had a precious young mother, age 33, pass away in our church. Difficult and dark times may be the corridors God has for us to walk. But as we walk, step-by-step, we can trust His character and promises – our sins are gone and His face is shining in favor on us. We need to practice His presence and talk with Him about everything. And we need to thank Him because everything in our lives has purposefully come from Him.

Creating Pearls

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An Irritant???

Have you ever become annoyed or frustrated at something that irritates you or ruins your normal comfort and just won’t go away?

Like if a little stone gets in your shoe while you are walking … and you think, “whoa, what got in there?” But you try to keep going … then reassess, “ugh, it’s not going away; this is irritating.” You try and shake your foot around as you’re walking to get the pebble to a more innocuous spot … only to realize you’re being watched by other curious people. So, you stop and sit down; you’ve got to address the irritation and get it out. With that tiny bit of God’s creation removed, you are just so thankful for the change and the relief.

What if you couldn’t get the irritant out? What if you needed to accept the truth that the irritant would be present longterm? Neither your will nor your arms could remove it?

The Making of Pearls

An oyster is part of the mollusk family. When they sense an irritant, like a parasite or piece of grit, that has lodged in their shell, they have no arms to remove the irritant. But God has exquisitely designed them to slowly secrete layers of aragonite and conchiolin (the rainbow-like iridescent coating often called nacre) to coat the invader. In time, those secretions day after day turn an irritant into a pearl.

The oyster or mussel slowly secretes layers of aragonite and conchiolin, materials that also make up its shell, to form nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, which encases the irritant and protects the mollusk from it.

Natural History Museum

How incredible is that?? Something that irritates and causes frustration is dealt with using a process that in time creates a pearl, a gemstone of great value. Only God!!

Irritating People

I have been musing on this concept. Could I respond like an oyster to irritating things in my life? Weather conditions, financial conditions, or health conditions that are outside my control? That’s hard!!

People can also be an enormous source of irritation or frustration in life. Perhaps you are thinking of someone right now? They may be within your immediate family, extended family, in your church, or a colleague at work. Perhaps you avoid the irritation by simply avoiding contact.

We live in South Africa, a nation with a history of apartheid (1948-1988), which could be simplistically described as state-enforced separation of people who were irritating to each other. There are eleven official languages and even more cultures here. There are many people-groups supposedly trying to live together in harmony, but the irritation breaks through far too often.

As humanity, we are very much in the same boat: God created us all in His image and likeness, and we are all fallen, sinful, and broken. Similarly, the Bible is for all people groups. It transcends eras, cultures, and individual preferences. And the two-fold Great Commandment, woven throughout its pages, is to love God supremely and your neighbor (created in His image) as yourself.

Nacre of the Spirit

Could we respond like the oyster when irritations occur? What if we did our own “nacre” around irritating challenges? If we have idols in our heart where we love control, love comfort, and love people-pleasing, then we will not respond well to irritants or irritating people. Idols create a “no-nacre zone.”

Loving someone means either overlooking their faults, praying and searching for subtle ways to help them work on their faults, or committing to help make up the difference where their faults may cause a problem. Loving someone is using my own Spirit-enabled internal resources (nacre) to absorb their oddities, prickles, and dysfunctions, and not let them irritate me. I stay when I could walk away. Love is accommodating someone’s weakness while you are thankful for, and celebrate, what is good. This applies to relatives. This applies to orphans. This applies to witchdoctors. This applies to people in other political parties.

Here is a for instance. In your office you need to closely monitor a coworker from a very different culture … different morals, a different work ethic, and different views of authority. They look different and they value things that are totally out of your orbit. Irritants abound!

BUT….. there are some very beautiful things about them as well. What if you choose to search for ways to think thanks to God even for them? You might express one thing that you are thankful for in them each day.

  • You could express your thankfulness for them in prayer to God (as you also ask God to fix them … and fix your heart so that you can show selfless love to them)
  • You could write your thankfulness in your th(i)nkful journal, or even better …
  • You could express your thankfulness to the coworker for something you have noticed in them!

When we choose to meditate and express our thanks for those beautiful things, it is like applying nacre in the making of the pearl. Perhaps I need to get into the pearl-making business! May I learn to put th(i)nkful nacre around my irritants, especially humans that God has put in my life for a purpose. I could become very rich with all my pearls!

Thanksgiving Connected to Peace?

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Philippian Exhortation

A few weeks ago David and I visited a new gathering of God’s people, Redeemer Community Church. We knew of people that had joined this new work, and wanted to visit one day; then the opportunity arose. It was so good. Refreshing and edifying. Pastor Erik shared from Philippians 4:4-9. He emphasized how we are to rejoice in the Lord ALL the time (verse 4).

But, how is this done, practically speaking? How do I rejoice when I see the earth or my country destabilizing? How do I rejoice with my recent medical diagnosis? How do I rejoice when my loved ones are making the decisions they are? How could Paul write this while sitting in prison?

The key is simply this: Rejoicing, or having joy, is a calm enthusiastic confidence in 1) the goodness of God’s character, 2) the reliability of God’s promises to His children, and 3) the absolute perfection of His sovereign plans. So many of us begin with the unspoken presumption that God’s job is to protect my world, keep me comfortable, free from sudden downturns in health, finances, and relationships, and to slowly carry me to a peaceful death at some ancient age. But God is not “about us” and has made no such promises.

We can rejoice when we choose not to be anxious (let go of our expectation of our world going as planned), but instead, through prayer and supplication with THANKSGIVING (affirming His choices in our circumstances), we take our requests to God (verse 6). Only then can we experience God’s overwhelming peace, described in verse 7.

God’s Peace Follows Prayer with Thanksgiving

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:7

Have you ever meditated on what that verse is really saying? It’s pretty amazing to experience peace … like when you find one of God’s lovely places far away from tech and humanity. But what about a peace that surpasses all our understanding?? A peace that causes others to scratch their head, or accuse me of being in denial of my circumstances?

I really WANT that peace. I want my heart and mind to be “kept” or guarded. I want God to carry through on His perfect plans, even if it means hardship for me. I am determined to keep my eye on Him because I know His eye is on me, as Peter when he walked on the stormy waters.

Perhaps I should ponder how to discipline myself to pray with thanksgiving?

12 Monthly Verses

I am choosing the theme of “Peace” this year and am memorizing a verse on peace each month. I want to know these verses so well that I can pull them up in my mind and meditate on them at any time I want. OK, I cheated and started in December.

John 14:27 is urging us to receive His peace, not worldly peace, but God’s peace.

So you may say, “that sounds wonderful, but you don’t know what is happening in my life. There’s everything but peace. I have sorrow, worries, fears, and pain … physical pain, emotional pain, spiritual pain. The road to experiencing peace is too gnarled. Not sure I could ever get to peace, much less peace that passes my understanding.”

Well, I am here to say that you can! It is not dependent on your circumstances. It doesn’t have to do with that. It is dependent on something else!!

Because of what Christ did on the cross when He paid for our sin, and when He defeated death, sin, and oppression by rising again, we too can “defeat our circumstances” by trusting in the character of God to work things together somehow for our good, our becoming like Jesus. Romans 8:28-29 states that is what God desires in our lives. Like a great sculptor with a rough rock, He is chiseling away in my soul anything that doesn’t look like Jesus. He has to use different “tools” such as pain and sorrow to make that happen. And it takes time.

Thinking Thanks is Part of the Journey to Peace

To envelope our burdens and challenges by choosing to think thanks about them, and in the midst of them, is a path of hope that leads to peace, God’s peace.

To identify gifts from the Lord right in the hardships is vital. Thanking God for His presence, His wisdom, His sovereignty is a good place to begin if you feel at loss to know on what to think thanks.

May God fill you with His surprising PEACE this year as you set your mind on Him.

You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is set on You.”

Isaiah 26:3

Th(i)nkful for Emmanuel

/ thinkfulkarin / 2 Comments

God Became Man

There is only one time in history that a multitude of angels gave praise to God before a human audience. Just one time. It wasn’t when God appeared to Moses on Mt. Sinai, or at the parting of the Red Sea, or when the Temple in Jerusalem was dedicated by Solomon. It also wasn’t when Jesus walked on water, or when He died at Golgotha, or even when He rose again triumphing over sin, death, Satan, and hell.

It was on the evening that Deity stepped into humanity and was born to walk among us; the night Emmanuel was born. The single angelic announcement of the birth of the only Savior of the entire world was not made to Caesar, nor to a Roman governor, nor to the Jewish High Priest nor the leaders of the Jewish faith. In today’s terms, there was no social media blitz.

This singular event of seeing an angelic multitude shouting out praises to God was reserved for a group of humble shepherds on a hillside outside Bethlehem on the night that Emmanuel was born.

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Isaiah 7:14

God With Us

Holiness with sinfulness. Wholeness with brokenness. Perfection with fallenness. God with us.

One of the greatest truths that defies our understanding, and one of the reasons we love God most, is because He has a desire and a commitment to be with us. He created us to be with Him. We then betrayed Him. We defected to another kingdom and joined the rebellion. Our communion with Him had to end. The Garden of Eden was closed for good. Paradise was lost.

But the story was the Author’s still and from the beginning, God had made a plan to be with us … so that we could be with Him. While proclaiming the curse upon the woman, God said that a serpent-crusher would one day come, a male child born of a woman but not a man.

God used Isaiah to fill in the picture a bit. He prophesied that a virgin would conceive and bare a child and call him “Immanuel,” God with us (7:14). Isaiah also wrote that this child would be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (9:6). Clearly, this child would be Deity in human form.

But how would He secure our salvation? Isaiah also wrote what is called “the Gospel in the Old Testament” in chapter 53. This God-Man would die a terrible and lonely death in our place and for all of our sins. Hundreds of years later, Jesus was born, and after four years of amazing ministry and teaching revealing who He really was, “God with us” became “God instead of us.” The Creator allowed Himself to be killed by His own creation … so that we could be forgiven and once again be back together with God. We think thanks!!!

Thanks for Never Leaving Us

As Emmanuel prepared to finish His work here and return to heaven, He gave several precious promises to His disciples. He said He and the Father would send His Spirit to indwell them as a comforter and guide (John 14:16-18, and 16:6-15). As He commissioned the disciples, He also said, “I will be with you to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18-20). While He is not physically present with us as believers, His Spirit within us is our constant companion. He is still Emmanuel. “God with us” is now “God within us,” and He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us … never (Heb. 13:5).

In time, our physical separation from the Lord will be over. A few hours ago this precious lady, our dear friend Sarah, went to be with the Lord. She loved Him so much. God was with her through her walk on this earth, and now she is with Him in a fuller way. Faith has become sight. Her spirit has left her body and is present with the Lord. We will miss her, but we are so happy for her. She is more fully realizing her Emmanuel.

The Culmination of All Things – God With Us

Jesus said that one day He would come back for His own. “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3). Notice that Jesus isn’t saying I will come take you to heaven, but rather take you to be with me – more Emmanuel talk.

Paul said that this return will involve a first and second step, a split second apart. Immediately after the resurrection of the justified, “we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.“

It is said that some Christians would want to go to heaven even if Jesus wasn’t there. But heaven is incidental. Our God wants to be with us; it is part of His very nature and character, and for this attribute of His we need to give Him our extreme thanks this holiday season!

May this Christmas season be a time of reflecting on Emmanuel coming to be with us and may you receive His perfect peace as you become conformed to His image.

PS. The explanation of the two different ways of spelling is that Immanuel is used in the Old Testament and Emmanuel is used in the New Testament.