You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children. Genesis 50:20–21
Sometimes, as ridiculous as it is, we believe that worry gives us some measure of control. Or we believe anxiety keeps God mindful of our problem. We fear that without the pressure of our fear, He might forget what we want from Him.
But our anxiety and demanding prayers accomplish nothing. We fear giving up our fear because if we don’t worry, who will remember to care? If we don’t worry, would God decide we really aren’t concerned about the issue? If we don’t worry, are we giving up hope of God involving Himself in our world?
Cutting across all our stubborn reasons for remaining in our fear, Paul wrote, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). God’s joy and peace are available to us as we trust Him; they are not the result of absolute guarantees about the outcomes of our worries. We have a choice: Will we trust Him and receive His joy and peace, or will we insist on seeking our joy and peace from resolved fears and changed circumstances?
The choice really is ours. We can hang onto our fears, insisting that until they are resolved, there is no way for us to enter into rest, or we can see those same fears as the door by which we can enter a rest far richer and sweeter than the rest that might arise from a tenuous arrangement of perfect circumstances. It is a rest that believes that a life without all the pieces in place, a life in which we do indeed suffer lack, is still a life to celebrate, a good gift from a good God.
