Worry is a lasting preoccupation with past or future bad events.

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However, when you strip it down to its skeleton, it means the act of imagining a future without God. We worry when we imagine a future devoid of God. we worry when we project our current feelings and discouragements and struggles into the future. We worry when we take God’s love and faithfulness out of the equation.

 

When we imagine a stark and bleak future, a vague void in which, probably a faithful and loving Father, Mother, Relative or Friend does not exist or in an undesirable condition. Underneath all the anxiety and fear and confusing emotions worry is actually a form of atheism. It’s acting as if God does not exist.

 

Psalm 18:46  provides three words which destroy worry and fuel faith: “The Lord lives…”

Don’t pass over those words too quickly. The. Lord. Lives.

 

Conditions seem very bad, your budget is flatlining and you are financially tanking and you don’t see any hope for the future! But the Scripture says: "The Lord lives". The same Lord who owns everything and provides for ravens and sustains galaxies and calls us his children is real and alive and active in your life. You can’t provide for yourself but your budget is not too tight for God.

 

The Lord lives.

Worry is the act of imagining a future without God.

Something is wrong in your life and you have tried everything and I don’t have any hope that anything will change! The Lord lives. The same Lord who has saved murderers and prostitutes and Pharisees and drug addicts and money addicts and pastors' kids is real and alive and active in your life. You can’t save your child, but your kid is not too hard for God. He said in Jeremiah 32:27 "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?

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Your marriage is on the rocks and we’ve tried counseling and you have read all the books and still don’t see things getting any better! The Lord lives. The same Lord who created a bride for himself out of rebellious, wicked, God-hating sinners is real and alive and active in your life. You can’t rescue your marriage, but your marriage is not too hard for God. The Lord lives.

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My spiritual life is dry, and I’ve tried a thousand different things to get it kickstarted, but nothing seems to work, and honestly, I don’t think things are going to get any better. The Lord lives. The same Lord who caused you to become spiritually alive is real and alive and active in your life. You can’t breathe fresh life into your heart, but your heart is not too dry for God.

Your circumstances may be bleak. You may not see a light at the end of the tunnel. You may not see any silver lining. But circumstances and tunnels and silver linings are not the basis of our hope, God is.