FROM THE MINISTRY TEAM

Dear Friends,

THE PURSUIT OF SECURITY: “DON’T WORRY!”

“Give no thought for your life, or what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; do not worry about it”.

These words of Jesus (Luke chapter 12, verse 29) were never ignored so completely as in our present time.

Many people are confident and optimistic for the future, but there are also many who fear that problems lurk just around the corner.

Personal anxieties are huge.  There are constant questions like - What should I do with my life?  How am I going to cope?  What if people don’t like me?

For some people anxiety can be overwhelming, leading to depression or breakdown.  The suicide rate among young people suggests that the future can seem very bleak for some.

Pursuit of Security

We humans today are preoccupied with our own security.  The ancient fears of mysterious forces and supernatural evils have been replaced by our mass obsession with health, material welfare, social ease, and long life.  It seems that mankind’s ordinary expectation of our Earthly life – a life which may well include suffering, disappointment and loneliness - is no longer accepted as unavoidable, but is regarded as an unacceptable injustice.

Today, with our unreasonable expectations of a safe, secure life, we are increasingly unable to cope with life as it actually is.  This in turn can put unreasonable demands on the authorities as people look to government to fulfil our false expectations of security, and to cure all ills.  False expectations of security also make people question the truth of religious explanations of life - as people question the existence of God who allows such misery to enter our human lives.

But God created a universe and put men and women into it.  He did not create humans first and then create a world designed for our happiness and security.  Jesus describes our lives in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew chapter 25, verses 14-30).  The good and faithful servants are creative with what their Lord gives them; they are open to the opportunities around them, and add to the riches.  They do not seek security by burying their talents in the ground.

Human life was meant to be hazardous.  We are called to share in a great adventure; and if we base our security and truth on Jesus Christ, then we shall be truly safe for all eternity.

Most things which cause human distresses are not, anyway, open to political or any other Earthly solution.  They are things like frustrated ambition, the failure of personal relationships, the decay of love, the ingratitude of children, and fearful diseases.  It is to such internal personal desolation that Jesus principally aims his Gospel message of Good News.

If we allow ourselves to become absorbed by the pursuit of security, the events of human grief will overwhelm us.  We need today to rediscover how impermanent, momentary and transitory are our lives on Earth.  We can then focus on the true security in Jesus and our eternity in Heaven.  Then our sorrow, as Jesus said, will be turned into joy (John chapter 16, verse 20).

“Don’t Worry!”

Jesus tells us not to get bogged down, worrying about what might or might not happen (Matthew chapter 6, verses 25-34).  Instead, we need to recognise how important our lives are.  We are far more important than what we do, what we have, or what we wear.  There is much more to us than the grades we get, or whether we are popular, great at football or drama, or simply misunderstood.  God sees us as significant whatever other people think or whatever we feel about ourselves.

Jesus’ advice is that worrying about these things is never going to help.  Instead, he offers us a different way forward: get our values right, trust God for the things we really need and we’ll have a new perspective on everything else.

Jesus says, “Leave the fears of tomorrow alone”.  For there are enough troubles for today to keep us fully occupied.  Take one day at a time and live in the now, so we can give ourselves fully to whatever we are doing without fear.

Now we mustn’t get Jesus wrong here.  He is not saying that we should live as though the future doesn’t matter.  It does.  He is saying simply that we should not be anxious about it.

Jesus tells us to trust him, and to take up the values that he has shown us.  When we have the certain hope – yes, the guarantee - that is in Jesus, we know there is nothing we need ever fear about tomorrow.

Our trust in Jesus is not just for the things we need this year and next, but for eternity.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation - Whom then shall I fear?” (Psalm 27).

With my prayers,

John Hickman