Tag: Unbelief

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” – Matthew 6:33-34 ESV

 At the turn of each New Year, I dedicate 21 days in January to prayer and fasting. I was excited and eager to purchase a new notebook to detail my New Year’s desires with joyful expectancy. All in the hopes that the Lord would bless those desires, making them fruitful, and that He would deliver me from those things I have struggled to release to Him completely.

One of the many things I wrote down in said notebook was my desire to become a first-time homebuyer. The thought of owning a home of my own has been a long-time desire. For the past two years, however, the Lord has continued to show me my desire to purchase a home, and His timing for me to have it haven’t come into alignment just yet. So, since receiving this confirmation, I’ve dedicated these last two years instead to become more disciplined in my finances. And, praise God, my commitment paid off, literally! I have successfully paid off many of my debts while simultaneously accruing money in my savings account. In retrospect, I firmly believe that while these past two years have been valuable in teaching me financial discipline, they were also invaluable in teaching me how to be patient and trust God’s perfect timing for my life. Fast forwarding. It’s now 2021, and as I am standing on this new ground of financial freedom, I am more prepared, more confident, positioned to now become a first-time homebuyer. So, in the first week of January, I decided to seek a loan officer and a real estate agent to begin my purchasing journey. Within a few hours, I was approved for a generous home loan and had booked multiple home tours.

On the morning of my first home viewing, I asked the Holy Spirit to guide me and confirm if any of the houses I’d visit that day were for me. As excited as I was, I was equally as nervous. When I stepped foot into the first home, the Holy Spirit confirmed that this house was someone else’s; it wasn’t for me. I finished the home tour out of consideration for the realtor’s time and having scheduled this appointment for me. My optimism assured me that if I continued browsing, I would see and feel something different at the next house and not what the Holy Spirit had just confirmed for me inside of this one. I applied this same approach to every home I visited that day. Yet to my disappointment, after seeing so many potential homes, my heart never quite felt settled on any of them.

Soon I was noticing that I was losing sleep. I started obsessing over searching for new homes every hour and soon began experiencing spiritual exhaustion. Full of grievances, I came before God: “Lord, I am tired of waiting, tired of fasting. I am plain tired of waiting on your promises and for my breakthrough! I am so tired of hearing other folks’ prophetic words, words that have yet come to pass. You’ve prepared me and then made me wait for two whole years! Now what?” Honestly, this was one of the sincerest expressions of emotion and frustration I’ve ever brought before God. And then, clear as day, I heard the Lord say, “You have forsaken time with me chasing after this dream, and that is why you are lost.” The Lord always speaks to me with just a few simple words, yet they are always profound, nevertheless.

I’ve shared all of this with you to lead you into the heart of my message: I began thinking how tragic it is that out of our heart’s unchecked determined carnal eagerness to have what it wants when it wants it, we sometimes actively ignore or silence the Holy Spirit’s confirmations. Bypassing them entirely at times, all to get what we want instead of what He says is best for us.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:19, Paul tells the church, “Do not quench the Spirit.” In other words, imagine the Holy Spirit as a fire, a flame; we ought not to dampen this flame; instead, we ought to fan it as the gift from God that it is! We ought not to push the Holy Spirit down or away but instead fan His flame that it may grow brighter. When we quench the Spirit, we are essentially overriding God’s principles with our own fleshly, worldly desires. In essence, we are actively ignoring what is right, to chase after what is so wrong instead, and, then, later down the road, end up wondering why we are struggling to hear or experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit. (Typically, it’s because we’ve ignored His guidance for so long.)

God’s response to my complaint made me realize that in being consumed with the bustle of life, the search for what I wanted, I was distancing myself from Him.

In Ephesians 4:30-32, Paul tells the church, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption….” I was doing precisely that. I was quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit by forsaking my intimacy with God all that I might pursue my desires instead, chasing after my dreams. Truth is, it is typically our fault when we feel distant from the Holy Spirit, not His. We’ve moved away from Him, distancing ourselves. He is ever-present and ever-faithful to direct us; that’s part of His purpose in our lives, in us. So, if He is ever near and ever ready to guide us into God’s best for us, the natural conclusion must be, if we’re not hearing Him, that we’ve shut Him out—choosing our way instead.

So once again, I came before the Lord, only this time in deep repentance, saying, “Forgive me, Lord, for actively disregarding your guidance because I wanted things to go my way. Calm my anxious heart.” It is a contradiction to say you have faith while simultaneously having an anxious heart. These two things cannot occupy the same space within us. An anxious heart is not fixed on eternity, while one that is trusting God’s ways is. An anxious heart dwells or focuses on tomorrow; a trusting heart remembers that tomorrow is God’s, not ours. An anxious heart grabs for their tomorrows with today’s hands, while a heart that trusts the Lord entrusts their tomorrows to God hand’s. An anxious heart lives full of worry for an unpredictable, not promised tomorrow.

In contrast, a trusting heart knows how to live freely today. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” –Philippians 4: 6-7. During my season of allowing this anxious heart to rise-up in me, I meditated on the following verses for consolation and to help settle my anxiousness: Each of these unique verses makes one common point: that our delighting in, abiding in, and seeking the Lord to direct us, align us to His will; will bring about our delight; creating the atmosphere through which He may, in His timing, grant us the desires of our hearts.

Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.”

Psalm 37:4: “Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 94:19: “When anxiety overwhelms me, Your consolation delights my soul.”

Friends, an anxious heart may desire to trust in the Lord while simultaneously believing God is operating too slowly, deciding then to step in and “help God out,” as if God needs our help! An anxious heart usually stems from us stepping in to force our will to be done; assuming control then, we fix our eyes on our circumstances and desires and not on the One who is Sovereign and in control of them. The Scriptures refer to this as being double-minded and warns us against living in this way, listen: “But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” –James 1:6-8.

The effectiveness of the Holy Spirit in us is hindered when we refuse to submit to Him—He has given us this choice after all. Yet when we refuse to yield, we restrict not only the Spirit’s ministry in our lives but also our potential usefulness to God in the life of another. More than anything else, we ought to desire that the Holy Spirit have free reign within us so that we may live under His complete control. How can we understand the will of the Lord if we’re always trying to supersede it rather than yield to it, choosing to carry out the flesh’s desire instead of walking by the Spirit? “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;  idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” –Galatians 5:16-17; 19-21.

The prescription to an anxious heart is our yielding and walking in His Spirit so that our heart’s desires will increasingly align with His will, seeking not only the blessings that flow from His hand but so much more, a closer relationship with Him. It is His heart alone, after all, that truly satisfies us.

God has confirmed for me that while I am walking in financial freedom, owning my own home will require more waiting. But this time, rather than complaining, I responded with a gentle heart, “Yes Lord, not my will but yours be done!” I wholly trust that the One who formed my heart, that knows my end from my beginning, knows what I need and when I need it, far better than I. It is no surprise to God when we worry. That is why His word speaks about worrying. “Fear not” is stated nearly 365 times throughout Scripture. It’s also not a surprise to God when we pre-plan our future and become disappointed when we don’t receive what we planned on receiving. Proverbs 16:9 says it this way: “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

 We become less disappointed as we become more trusting in the Lord. It can be challenging, indeed, but it’s certainly possible! “For nothing will be impossible with God” –Luke 1:37.

Friends know that our joy and contentment ought to abide in fulfilling the will of the Father and increasingly trusting more fully in God’s heart for us. Be assured, our joy and contentment will never be fully realized, chasing after the things of this world. Great is the Lord’s faithfulness. He is not slow in keeping His promises. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” –2 Peter 3:8-9.

I encourage you to allow the following verses to guide you. Memorize them so that you might apply to them whenever you feel your heart becoming anxious: Psalm 16:5: “Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1: “For everything there is an appointed time, an appropriate time for every activity on earth.”

Lamentations: 3:25-26: “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

Friends continue seeking and focusing on the Almighty always and in all circumstances – even in those dry, waiting seasons; remembering to encourage yourself in the fact that God is aware of your needs and desires and that tomorrow belongs to Him. In His perfect timing, you will understand, often in hindsight, just why patience was in order that you might have your heart’s desires. I pray that you cling to God and the verses I have shared if you too are experiencing an anxious heart. I also pray that you will follow my example of chasing after Christ’s will in your desire to draw closer to God. And that you might more fully understand His will for your life. I pray that you ask Him with absolute sincerity to lead and guide you and help you know His perfect will and timing for your unique situation—trusting that He will respond. And, if you’ve not yet come to know this Jesus who calms our fears and holds our future in the palm of His hand, I encourage you to ask Him into your heart as Lord and Savior this day. I can promise you; you’ll never regret that you did! “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” –Philippians 4:6-7.