Shepherd Joseph
CAMP DAY 2 (Morning Service)
Worry is a state of mind that arises in impossible situations and is usually accompanied by fear. Both believers and unbelievers face worries, but our response is what sets us apart. God is not ignorant of our worries; He encourages us to be still, as He told the Israelites in Exodus 14:14. He desires to free us from worry and to guide us into a new dimension where we agree with the heavens [through the access we now have as a result of the Cross, into His presence (see Matthew 27:51)] and move according to His Word. Christ’s death on the Cross has also brought us victory through salvation, equipping us to combat worry. There was a shape that we had and lost but through Christ’s redemption, we’ve been brought to the new shape. This understanding reveals God’s power to help us overcome our worries, allowing us to achieve the victory already available by faith.
As believers, we focus not on the problem but on the God who can help us through it. Hence, to live a worry-free life, we must know who God is. He is good and His goodness is inherent to His nature; it is not merely based on His actions. Focused on our circumstances, many of us struggle to grasp His goodness, leading to doubt. When we don’t understand God’s hand in our difficulties, we must seek His heart—to remember that He is love—to shift our perspective.
We also often forget His past faithfulness—an ignorance which the enemy uses to distract us from coming to God with our worries. In Revelation 4:8-11, the 24 elders worship God, proclaiming, “Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.” This worship refocuses them on God, and if we too focus on worshipping God, this will dispel worry; our problems diminish and He is magnified. The world needs children of God who truly know Him so they can shift things wherever they go!
When we walk in worry, we tend to create our own blessings. In Genesis 16:1-3, God promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations, but because he and Sarah were ageing, they were led to take matters into their own hands. Sometimes we too find ourselves in similar situations, ultimately wanting to take control, indicating how much we can be control freaks. We must understand that when God speaks a Word, it does not return to Him without fulfilling its purpose.
We also often respond without being led by God. In 1 Kings 18-1:4, we see how Elijah ran away in response to the threat Jezebel had made to do to him what he had done to the Baal prophets. A person who walks in worry is led by their fears, which shows that we are not being led by God. This is dangerous because God directs us to see beyond our problems and without His leadership, we won’t see beyond and we will end up falling.
