Daily devotional, October 24, 2023 Skip ad
"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" Romans 8:32
Having a playlist of either songs or videos is very helpful for people who work better while listening to background music or videos with topics they find interesting. You no longer need to choose each time a video is over, you can shuffle the songs, and even loop it so that you do not need to press on anything and get disturbed in what you are doing. It just goes on and on.
Our thoughts are like that too. When everything is silent, like when we are driving, or when we are about to sleep, thoughts recur in our mind, and situations that happened recently or even a long time ago get played back in our heads and elicit either a positive or negative reaction from us. While most of us could get by and dismiss sad thoughts easily, not everyone is capable of that. Anxious thoughts and worries pervade the minds of some, and these get played back in their minds like a Youtube playlist on automatic loop.
As Christians, we are often reminded by our Church leaders that worrying and anxiety are a form of sin. It is tantamount to believing that God will not be able to help us in the distress we are feeling. That He is not faithful to His promises to us. St. Peter reminds us to bring all our anxieties to the Lord and do not allow the enemy to make us believe that our Heavenly Father will fail us:
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:6-8
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Himself tells us that there is no point in worrying. He says the Heavenly Father knows what we need and so we do not have to be anxious about our problems and provisions: “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27)
When negative thoughts, regrets, and desperation keep on playing in our heads, we should remember to turn our eyes to Jesus. We should drown out the pervading voice that tells of our failures and past mistakes, with the voice that calls us to His mercy, righteousness, grace and salvation. Psalm 55:22 assures us: “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.”
The Apostle Paul even gave us a formula for surrendering all our worries to the Lord, and it can be found in his Letter to the Philippians:
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 5:5-7
St. Paul goes on to say that what we should focus on are good things. We should think of admirable and noble pursuits, as well as what is right and pure, instead of turning to what the world tells us to look at.
You see, even if our minds are filled with worrisome thoughts, desperate thoughts, and sometimes evil thoughts, the Lord will never tire to remind us that He is waiting for us to turn to Him. His messages are like those persistent ads in our playlist that we keep on skipping because we are too embroiled in our mud of sin, worry, and unhappiness. The devil on the other hand keeps on urging us to turn to sin so we can forget our problems. The enemy may even convince us to take our own lives because there is no solution to our woes. And sadly, some of us meditate on these thoughts instead of meditating on the truth that God wants to reveal to us. We keep on skipping those ads — messages — that remind us that the Lord came for us, redeemed us, and longs to bless us and take our worries and fears away:
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10
Let us plaster in our hearts the truth that God wants us to rejoice and be happy. He wants us to abide by Him and live a life that is genuine, pure, and peaceful. He is not promising a life without troubles, but He promises to never leave us — that He will stand in the fire beside us (Daniel 3:25); that He can calm a raging storm (Mark 4:39), and He provides (Luke 12:24). Let us surrender everything to Him, intentionally seek Him, refrain from skipping His ‘ads’ in our everyday lives, and magnify Him and His power in our hearts.
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Matthew 16:25-34 and Philippians 4:4-9, to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: What keeps on playing in the playlist of your mind? Do you have recurring worries? When will you surrender these to Jesus?
Conversation with the Lord: Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for being such a wonderful Father for all of us. I praise and thank you that you are not wavering when it comes to calling me to come back to you and surrender my anxieties and fears to you. Help me have the confidence to just raise every bit of anxiety in my mind so that I can focus on you and live the life you planned out for me. Amen.