Be Anxious for Nothing

With all of the excitement churning over the Coronavirus, it's important for believers to remember that God is still sovereign. In a recent post by Alasdair Groves, he reminds us of the anxiety that the Israelites were experiencing as they camped by the engorged, churning Jordan River waiting to cross into the Promised Land (Joshua 3). Where is God in our lives when we stand before the unknown? Groves writes:

I’ll close with one last thought about how you and I can wait on the banks of this river, even as its flood is swelling:

Pour out your anxieties to your Father in Heaven. Do not churn fruitlessly inside your own heart with worries about school closings, travel plans, economic downturns, or the potentially infected surfaces you’ve touched! When you are afraid, turn to him. Cast your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. In fact, let handwashing or rubbing on hand sanitizer become a moment in which you consciously entrust yourself and the future of everyone you care about into his hands.

To spend our time frantically strategizing about how we’ll cross the flooded river is so instinctive, even though it is also foolish and needless. So do wash your hands, and do what is wise about working from home, or calling your doctor. But don’t let yourself for a moment forget where your true safety lies. After all, you don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but you do know the one who parts raging rivers…and who has already parted the last river for you, blocking its flow with his blood-soaked cross! That final crossing you will indeed find already open and waiting for you. And on the far side of that river you’ll fear and wait no more.

In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt spoke these famous words in the midst of the American financial crisis, "There is nothing to fear but Fear itself." I still don't know what that means, but I do know that God has told his people, "Be anxious for nothing" (Phil.4:6a). Like the Israelites, this is not easy for us, especially when the world seems to be spinning in chaos around us. But at times like this, we have to trust Him with our lives. God does test our faith with life's struggles (James 1:2-4). It's at these times that we have to realize how much we need Him.