Our circumstances are not, in fact, new. Before the Protestant Reformation, there was widespread despair in Europe. The Black Death struck Europe in the mid-14th century, and somewhere around a third, maybe even up to a half, of the population of Europe died. The Hundred Years’ War began in the 14th century, and there was a major ecclesiastical divide in the church, which saw popes battling antipopes and a division in Western Catholic Christendom. People were despairing; they thought the world was coming to an end. Out of that tremendous trial and fire came the Protestant Reformation.
Care and concern that are not rooted in a trust in God’s sovereign providence over us can leave us in despair.The Lord is always up to something, even when the culture looks dark and dangerous and opposing. As believers we need to have confidence in a sovereign God that even when we look at our culture and we are depressed that it is not what it ought to be, it is not even what we remembered it to be when we were younger, do not think that God is not up to something. He is always preparing the way to lift up the name of Jesus and to do a great work. We have confidence that even in dark times, the Lord is up to something.
I love that quote, “Be anxious for nothing,” or, translated into modern English, “Do not worry about anything.” I love it because one of my particular struggles is with worry. When I worry, I actually show that I do not fully and adequately trust in the sovereignty of God. I have to constantly go back to that passage and hear Paul say to me, “Be anxious for nothing. Don’t worry about anything.”
When I worry, I actually show that I do not fully and adequately trust in the sovereignty of God.Of course, Jesus says the same thing in the Gospels. Jesus and Paul have the same message. Here’s another thing I love about that statement: Paul also elsewhere says that the daily anxiety or cares of the churches are upon him. I love it that Paul says that. The Paul who tells me not to worry about anything tells me that his burden to care for the churches causes him to be tempted to worry all the time. It just reminds us all that care and concern are good. Care and concern that are not adequately rooted in a trust in God’s sovereign providence over us, his watch care of us, and his superintendence over us, can leave us in despair.
The key to not worrying is believing in the good, sovereign providence of God. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know that he cares for me.
