To Encourage You

Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”

Have you ever thought it strange that the Bible contains commandments that it would seem shouldn’t really be necessary?  Isn’t it strange the things that an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God Who can always be trusted, has determined He has to tell us?  For example, since God has always proven Himself to be faithful to each and every person, since He has told us that He would never leave us nor forsake us, isn’t it odd that He must tell us to not be anxious about anything?  Shouldn’t it be the natural inclination of the human heart, especially the heart of anyone who says they have put their faith in God, to not be anxious.  However, the fact is, this is not the natural inclination of the heart.  Rather, the natural thing is to worry.  It comes so effortlessly to us.  We can do it almost without thinking.  That’s why we need the supernatural thinking of our supernatural God to get our heads on right. 

Then there is the command to be thankful when we pray.  Why do we need to be reminded of this?  Shouldn’t we be thankful beyond words that we can pray, that we can actually talk to the Creator of the universe, that He hears us, and that He responds to us?  But so often, when times are tough, even if we cry out in prayer, the natural inclination is not to be thankful but anxious even in the praying, and perhaps anything but thankful for the situation we find ourselves in.  Again, here, the Lord helps us to get our heads on straight, and really think about who He is and what He has promised.  It should just come naturally to us, wouldn’t you think? But unfortunately. it does not, and thus the command. 

And so we are told that this is the love of God, to keep His commandments.  It is our love for God that should motivate us to do this, but it is also the love from God that He has given His commandments to us.  They are given to us for our blessing.  They are provided to protect us and bless us physically, mentally, financially, relationally, and in every other way that really matters. His commands are not burdensome.  His greatest commandments, to love Him with everything that is in us and to love our neighbor as ourselves, are not to rob us of anything. They are not meant to deprive us. They are meant always for our good.  You would think He wouldn’t have to tells us to do such things, i.e., to love, but again, it’s not natural, especially when it seems like our world is falling apart and God isn’t anywhere to be found or when our neighbor doesn’t love us back.  But we have a God who loves us, and Who is absolutely trustworthy, and it is not burdensome, even when at first it may seem so, to obey the commandments of a God like that.