2 Corinthians 11:28

And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

Paul did not walk with Jesus of Nazareth. We do not know for sure if he heard His Lord’s command.

Matthew 6:27

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

Jesus asks us not to be anxious about our own life but Paul is anxious about the church.

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.

Paul got the message and passed it on to us. Anxiety for others leads us to prayer.

We live in uncertain times and there is a fair amount of anxiety about tomorrow. Tomorrow falls in line with Matthew 6:27, do not be anxious about the times. Be anxious for the safety and sanity of others. Pray for others.

There are a good number of people praying for you, just the same as we pray for others.

The good thing about serving this God is that He leaves nothing undone.

Do we believe that? Much of our anxiety centers around what we want to happen, even if it is biblical. We trust God but would prefer seeing a happy ending now rather than later. That is just our flesh wanting our own way.

Ecclesiastes 1

All Is Vanity

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

It is vanity to want things our own way. Love does not insist on having things its own way.

1 Corinthians 13:5

Luke 17:5-6 English Standard Version

Increase Our Faith

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

There is a class of believers that think that they have the power to command. They want to make the mulberry tree obey them. That is not testing of our faith. Listen carefully to the next section of scripture.

Luke 17:10

So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

The Lord commands and we obey. He has the power and our obedience of faith exercises the will of God. Testing of our faith is directly connected to hearing His commands and obeying as good servants.

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The testing of our faith leads us to a better understanding of God’s will. It increases in understanding from good, to acceptable to perfect, where we gain confidence that we are hearing God more clearly as we renew our minds.

Paul’s warning in Romans 12 begins with those who have already placed their faith in Christ and that their minds are in the world and the world is constantly trying to convince believers to see things their way. The only way to combat those influences is to renew our minds by exposing our minds to the truth, the Word of God.

At the time of Paul’s writing to the Romans there was no television, internet, cell phones, texting and apps exposing our minds to every kind of assault on our beliefs. That indicates to me that it is more important than ever to renew our minds daily.

2 Corinthians 11:28

And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

If Paul was anxious then, what makes us think we can escape those same pressures? We need His Word more than ever.