The challenge of your Christian life is believing what you don\u2019t see. The Bible calls this faith.<\/p>\n
There is so much that is seen. You see your need for food and clothing. You see injustice and wrongness in the world. You see how things are, how the world works.<\/p>\n
Our world is filled with practical, visible concerns. Like what the medical profession calls \u201cADLs.\u201d Those are \u201cactivities of daily living.\u201d Everyone has tasks to accomplish every day, like getting dressed, eating breakfast, taking a shower, and (hopefully) brushing your teeth. Those activities need to get done, they are a visible part of life.<\/p>\n
And those basic activities don\u2019t really even touch all the other parts of life. Having enough money. Taking care of kids. Holding on to a job. Making a few friends.\u00a0 Add in looking ahead to ensure these things in the future, and you have the basis for planning and hoarding. They are based largely in worry.<\/p>\n
So what is seen leads to worry. That worry drives behaviors which don\u2019t really settle the anxiety, because plans go awry and riches melt away. And who can plan for illness, or have enough money to cheat death?<\/p>\n
James says that the answer to our worry for ourselves isn\u2019t planning and saving. The answer is found in faith. What we need isn\u2019t more attention to building a nest for ourselves. What we need is to believe that our home is not here.<\/p>\n
Our hope is not bound up in the success of a life well lived on earth. Our hope is in the coming of the Lord.<\/p>\n
“Be patient,” James 5:8 says. \u201cEstablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.\u201d That\u2019s the answer to anxiety. Jesus is coming, and he is coming for you and me. Above all we seek to be with Jesus. We seek a heavenly homeland, where he is. And the calming truth is that he has promised it to us, by his strength and in his timing. He is alive. He is coming again. None of us has seen any of this, we simply trust in Jesus. Thus our lives at our core are not about achieving on earth. Our lives are about waiting for Jesus.<\/p>\n
My anxiety is helped when I meditate on the love Jesus has for me and his amazing promises. I think on stories of God\u2019s deliverance\u2014always by his strength, his power, his time, his way. He freed his people from Egypt in mighty miracles, he parted the Red Sea, he provided manna to eat, he gave water to drink, he made a way to dwell among his people, he went before them directing and guiding. And that\u2019s only Exodus!<\/p>\n
Activities of daily living remain before you. But don\u2019t worry if you can\u2019t accomplish them. And don\u2019t rejoice if you accomplish them better than other people.\u00a0 If your heart is set on Jesus, take comfort that this is not your home, and that your faith is to wait for the coming of the Lord. He is coming soon!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The challenge of your Christian life is believing what you don\u2019t see. The Bible calls this faith. There is so much that is seen. You see your need for food and clothing. You see injustice and wrongness in the world. You see how things are, how the world works. Our world is filled with practical, … Continue reading Homeland<\/span>