What am I going to do about this situation? Where do I turn? Is there anyone who can help me? What is going to happen to me? Situations arise daily. We often don’t know what to do or where to turn. We think about our problems nonstop and we worry about them. We worry about how we were treated and what they deserve. We spend time telling a friend instead of telling our one Friend, Jesus.
In Matthew 6:25, the Bible says, “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” Taking thought carries the connotation of worrying about things outside of our control. We spend time thinking about things that are never going to happen. Worry sets in and distracts us from thinking the right thoughts and doing the right things.
Sarai, Abram’s wife, got distracted. She thought herself right into a terrible situation; all because she lost her focus on God’s truth. Genesis 15:4–6 is very clear, “And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” Sarai’s focus left God’s Word and she began to reason with herself, “How can I have children? Abram and I have been married for years. I’m sure God means that I should have a child through my handmaid, Hagar. After all, she is mine, so her child would be mine.” Sarai was wrong. She took matters into her own hands and it affected the rest of her life.
You and I are like Sarai. When God doesn’t do what we think He should, when we think He should do it, we take thought. We begin to think and plan, taking matters into our own hands, under the disguise of God’s will. We take thought instead of “take no thought” as the Bible says in Matthew 6:25–34. Verse 34 sums it up by saying, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Because of our lack of obedience, we often miss what God has for us.
Instead of thinking about the wrong things, think about the right things. Focus on Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Here are some ideas to help think about the right things:
- Be thankful for the situation you are presently in.
- Praise God through the situation.
- Focus on your attitude and actions, not on who wronged you and how you can fix it.
- Grow spiritually through the trial.
What do you think about?
