BY GREG CRUM

“And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” Mark 4:37-40

I hope you have already realized from your personal Bible reading that Jesus did not cushion his words to his followers. He did not flatter them, and he did not coddle them with vocabulary that would project false affirmation. He told them the truth. Sometimes it was a hard truth. Here in Mark chapter 4, we read that Jesus rebuked his disciples for their lack of faith. It was a serious matter for Jesus and elicited a serious response, but why? Was Jesus grieved because the disciples did not have enough faith to stare down the storm themselves? No, he was upset with them because they had doubted his care for them. “Carest thou not that we perish” was a referendum on his love for them and his ability to keep them safe from harm.

Last week we wrote to you about the importance of “taking no thought” as taught by Jesus in Matthew 6. What does “taking no thought” mean? In this context, it means “don’t worry.” As followers of Jesus, we should never worry that we will not have what we need when we need it. There is never a logical reason to worry about lack if you are a child of God. God is not going to run out of provision, and He is not going to quit caring about us, so we should just relax and turn our attention to better things.

We left off last week noting that to worry about resources in this life is a trap of the enemy. That is why Jesus warned us so sharply not to worry along these lines. It is when we worry about provision that the devil can gain a foothold in our minds, and if left to stew, can rob us of the faith necessary to receive from the Lord the good things he has provided for us. What? Yes. Our worry about provision can bloom into the lack that the devil desires for us.

Now, you might be asking, “How so? How can my worry become a self-fulfilling prophecy?” Well, first and foremost, worry is a form of fear, and that is a spiritual force that works as anti-faith. In fact, it is faith-like in its power to bring about reality in our lives. Unfortunately, it is a faith in the devil and his ability to bring you harm, and when you act on it, it brings that harm to pass.

Secondly, worrying about resources is a disrespectful disbelief in God’s love for us. That is why, in Matthew 6, Jesus emphasized the care God gave to flowers and birds and then stressed that God loved us so much more than that. God’s provision is tied to His love for us more than anything else, so when we doubt provision, we doubt His love. This displeases Him. Why the displeasure? Mostly because He knows that our doubt of His love will crimp the hose that funnels His provision to us.

So, what is the solution, the antidote, to this worry about provision? It is there in the lesson taught in Matthew 6, when Jesus expresses over and over that we should “take no thought.” What we choose to think about concerning resources will help or hinder our faith in God’s provision. Worry is most definitely tied to our meditation, and we can choose what we think about. Remember Philippians 4:6-8? It starts out with “Don’t worry” (Be careful for nothing) and ends with “think on these things,” which means we can choose to think on those good things mentioned rather than worry about what harm may come to us.

“Oh, I cannot help but worry.” That is because of what you are allowing to stay in front of your eyes and get into your ears. We will never be able to “change the channel” in our minds until we “change the channel” from those negative sources. So, why should I worry at all? I should not. I will not. I am going to choose to consider the lilies and how they grow, and in turn, how God cares for them—and for us that much more.

Greg Crum is the pastor at Calvary Temple in Lovely.