• Where God is, love is. (1 John 4:7-8)

  • The future is as bright as God’s promises.

  • Seeking first His kingdom.

  • Sharing the Good News. In season and out of season.

  • Pray without ceasing. Give thanks always.

Anchor

User-friendly devotionals with audio

  • Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

    A compilation

    Audio length: 14:21
    Download Audio (13.1MB)

    There are some things I’m good at: I can clean, organize, delegate, and plan like a boss. I can cook well enough to get paid to do it, and I can write pretty well. But I have one skill that I haven’t yet figured out how to market, and when I do, I’m fairly certain it will make me rich. I can worry with such skill and creativity that I’m convinced it’s gotta be worth something!

    Do you know anyone who is interested in adding a professional “worrier” to their team? I can imagine all the possible worst-case scenarios and outcomes for companies and individuals. I can worry about things that are actual possibilities, and also about things that are so far-fetched they haven’t even made movies about them yet. I would love to put this skill to work, because at the moment it’s really more of a liability—something that robs me of peace and tranquility and wastes a lot of my time and energy.

    God’s Word says, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself” (Matthew 6:34). Another passage says, “Do not be anxious for anything” (Philippians 4:6). These instructions really conflict with my worrying. So how can I comfortably worry about things when the Bible tells me so clearly not to worry?

    If I’m really honest, there are times—lots of times—when my worrying steals all the joy out of my life. I have cried over tragedies that never happened. I have raged over difficulties that never materialized. I have stressed over problems that never came to pass. I’m sure I will be able to say with Mark Twain, “I’m old and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”

    I’m not sharing all this with you with the sole intention of convincing you that I’m nuts. I’m actually telling you this so that you can learn from my foolishness. Heck, I’m learning from my foolishness! Sometimes I feel foolish when, after a sleepless night spent crying, worrying, and stressing, I wake up in the morning to a tragedy-free life!

    The good news is that I’ve been through this cycle enough times that I’m starting to realize the futility and uselessness of it. I can’t say that I’ve come close to breaking the worry habit yet, but I’m starting to think that maybe I should … stop!

    But the fact is that it’s really hard not to worry. Life is pretty messy and unpredictable. Wouldn’t you agree? With all of life’s looming woes, how can anyone not worry?

    There’s this little poem I once read (actually I read it so many times that I have memorized it):

    I have nothing to do with tomorrow,
    My Savior will make that His care.
    Should it [be filled] with trouble and sorrow,
    He’ll help me to suffer and bear.

    I have nothing to do with tomorrow
    Its burden then why should I share?
    Its grace and its strength I can’t borrow,
    So why should I borrow its care?1

    Isn’t that great advice? My worrying, your worrying—does nothing for our futures. I’ve never worried my way out of a problem. The only thing my worrying has accomplished was to sap my strength for the present. I’m guessing that that’s all you’ve managed to do with your worrying as well.

    I can’t tell you that I’ve harnessed any amazing meditation techniques that have eliminated my worrying. I don’t know that there’s any one thing that takes away the urge to worry and stress about things. But here are a couple of things that I picked up from Dale Carnegie2 that are helping me:

    Ask yourself what’s the worst that can happen and make peace with it.

    Now that might seem a little scary to do, but it’s one of the best ways I’ve found to let go of worry. In the words of Dale, “Once you accept the worst that can happen, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. It’s the beginning of freedom.” This technique has helped me greatly, as I can pray for grace and trust that God has never failed me, and He won’t fail me ever … not even if the “worst” were to happen!

    Set about doing the things that actually can be done to improve the situation.

    Sometimes there is something that I can do, like make a phone call, send an email, write down what I need to remember or take care of, and especially commit my cares to the Lord in prayer.

    I worry the most at night. Sometimes getting up and doing something makes things easier than just lying there. (It’s easier to deal with worry during the day, as I keep pretty busy.)

    When I apply these steps I am amazingly able to let go of my worries, or at least keep them at bay.

    My worries are likely different from your worries. But regardless of the issues, worrying is just as much a waste of time for you as it is for me. It’s something I want out of my life, and something you probably want out of your life, too. Why should we worry and stress when we can actually trust the Lord and be happy?

    No matter how bad or difficult things get, there is always something to be grateful for and something that makes life worth living. I firmly believe that is a truth that will never change.

    If you can eliminate the habit of worrying, you will save so much time and energy. And that’s time and energy that you can use toward building your future or working on the things that really matter.

    And I’ll end this with the words of a well-known song by Bobby McFerrin: Don’t worry; be happy.3Mara Hodler4

    *

    Matthew 6:31–32 says, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”

    A lot of our workaholism is rooted in worry. You have to put your security in something that can’t be taken from you. Trust that God knows your needs and can provide for you.

    A Christian man, after struggling for years, finally said, “God, I’m going to give you my business. You’re the CEO now. You’re in charge of my career—the profits, payoffs, promotions. It’s your business now and you run it.”

    The next day his business warehouse burned to the ground. He was seen standing outside the warehouse with a smile on his face. He said, “Last night I gave my business to God. If he wants to burn it down, it’s his business.”

    He had a new perspective: “God will handle it! As quickly as he burned the thing down, he can raise it up again.” That’s called trust.

    Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, 30: “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. ... The yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light.”

    Jesus came to give you a lifestyle that is easy and light. If you’re carrying a load that is heavy and overbearing, then it’s not from God.

    Perhaps you have been in this lifestyle so long, you don’t know any other way. You’re dead tired, but you can’t seem to stop. God has a word for you: “Trust me. I’ll take care of you. Exchange your pressure [worry] for my peace.”—Rick Warren5

    *

    Worry is largely a matter of thinking about things at the wrong time. I have built into your brain the amazing capacity to observe your own thoughts. So it is possible to monitor your thoughts and make choices about them.

    To avoid wasting mental and emotional energy, timing is very important. If you think about certain things at the wrong time—for example, when you’re lying in bed—it’s all too easy to start worrying about them. This is why it’s so helpful to monitor your thinking. Instead of waiting until you’re deep in worry, you can interrupt anxious, negative thoughts and change the subject.

    I want you to discipline your mind to minimize worry and maximize worship. This will require much ongoing effort, but you will find that it is a path to freedom. When you realize you’re thinking about something at the wrong time—a worrisome, negative thought at a time when you can do nothing about it—take swift action. Tell yourself, “Not now!” and direct your mind elsewhere. The best direction for your thinking is toward Me. Draw near Me by expressing your trust in Me, your love for Me. This is worship.

    Strive to live more fully in the present, refusing to worry about tomorrow. Striving involves devoting serious effort and energy to something; it usually includes struggle. You must exert continual effort if you want to live present-tense in My Presence. I urge you to make Me the major pursuit of your everyday life.

    It’s essential to resist the temptation to worry. You live in a fallen world, full of sin and struggles—you will never run short of things that can provoke anxiety. However, remember that each day has enough trouble of its own. I carefully calibrate the amount of difficulty you will encounter on a given day. I know exactly how much you can handle with My help. And I am always near—ready to strengthen, encourage, and comfort you.

    Pursuing a close walk with Me is the best way to live in the present. Keep bringing your thoughts back to Me whenever they wander. Return to Me joyfully, beloved. I will take great delight in you and rejoice over you with singing.Jesus6

    Published on Anchor March 2024. Read by John Laurence. Music by Michael Fogarty.


    1 “Tomorrow,” by Major D. W. Whittle.

    4 Adapted from a Just1Thing podcast, a Christian character-building resource for young people.

    6 Sarah Young, Jesus Today (Thomas Nelson, 2012).

  • Mar 15 Are You Ready to Die?
  • Mar 13 Forgiving Your Worst Enemy
  • Mar 12 Breaking Down Fear
  • Mar 7 The Christian’s Call to Witness
  • Mar 4 Submission to Jesus
  • Feb 29 Confession
  • Feb 28 A Job Well Done
  • Feb 22 Giving to God and His Work
  • Feb 21 Going the Distance
   

Directors’ Corner

Faith-building Bible studies and articles

  • 1 Corinthians: Chapter 1 (verses 17-25)

    In verse 16, Paul wrote that he had baptized very few of the Corinthians while he was with them. He continued this topic in verse 17.

    For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.1

    This verse brings an end to the subjects Paul wrote about in the first 16 verses of this chapter and serves as a bridge into the next passage. Paul uses himself and his calling as an example, to further his argument. His calling was to preach the gospel. This didn’t mean that he never baptized new believers, but his focus was on preaching the message of Christ. This is the first use of the word gospel in this epistle. Its meaning here is to preach or to bring the good news. That was Paul’s commission, given to him by Christ.

    Along with Paul’s call to preach, there was also a call as to how the message should be presented. He insists that the power of the gospel doesn’t lie in how elegantly it is presented. In fact, he states that Christ didn’t send him to preach with words of eloquent wisdom. He indicates that the way of expressing the message affects the reception of the message.

    Having completed his introduction, Paul introduced the substance of his letter.

    For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.2

    After explaining how he had been called to preach in a way that would not take anything from the power of the “cross of Christ,” Paul begins to address the nature of that power, which is found in proclaiming the gospel. He also speaks about the “word of the cross,” which he states is experienced in God’s power within those who are saved. The “word of the cross” is a metaphor for the proclamation of the gospel which is found in Christ.

    To be put to death on a cross was a painful and shameful way to die. In addition, because Jewish law taught that death “on a tree” meant a person was cursed, damned by God,3 Jesus having died on a cross was a cause of “stumbling” to the Jews, as Paul mentions later in this chapter. For the Jews as well as the Gentiles, the horror of crucifixion made the whole idea of preaching about someone who had been crucified, and a king at that, seem to be madness.

    Paul compares the two groups of people: for one group, the word of the cross is “foolishness”; but for the other group, the word of the cross is the power of God. Through people’s reaction to Christ, who had died on a cross, God would reveal who was perishing or being saved.

    For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”4

    Quoting from the book of Isaiah,5 Paul gives support for what he has been saying. Through the cross of Christ, God’s intention is to destroy the wisdom of the wise. Paul is quoting scripture to point out that this was always God’s intention—to destroy all wisdom that was not from God, and to bring about salvation in His way. Paul’s use of the future tense, “I will destroy,” expresses the idea that worldly wisdom, which is in opposition to God and His ways, is not just another way to look at the world, but rather is resistant to God and is to be set aside. Those possessing worldly wisdom will be destroyed, according to Isaiah’s prophecy.

    Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?6

    Paul continues to point out God’s opposition to worldly wisdom by asking four questions. The first one alludes to the book of Isaiah. (1) Paul asks: Where is the one who is wise? Isaiah spoke similar words in Isaiah 19:12 to mock the Egyptian wise men who could not comprehend the ways of God. (2) Where is the scribe? The scribe might refer to a person well versed in the Mosaic law. (3) The debater of this age might refer to someone who engages in philosophical debate and discussion for its own sake.

    In the fourth question, Paul asked whether God had made foolish the wisdom of the world. God had done so in the days of Isaiah by defeating the Egyptians and Assyrians. But Paul was expressing an idea broader than this. God had shown the folly of human wisdom in that human wisdom would never consider that God would allow His Son to be crucified in order to save humankind. By acting in a way that human wisdom would label “foolish,” God had frustrated human wisdom.

    Paul assumes that the Christians he is writing to are following his point, and the fourth question expects the answer “yes.” God “made foolish” the wisdom of the world when Christ was crucified.

    For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.7

    While Paul has spoken of the “power of God” in contrast to the world’s “wisdom” (verses 18–19), now he speaks of the wisdom of God. This wisdom is spelled out in the main clause (it pleased God). It is God’s decree to save believers through the death of Christ. This is God’s wisdom, and as Paul goes on to demonstrate, it is a wisdom that is alien to the wisdom “of this age.”

    Paul reminds the Corinthians that men and women have not known God through their own ways. Knowing God is not just knowing about God. It is about identifying with the Lord as the only one who can save. It’s about calling “upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”8 It’s about being in a relationship with God, which brings about a whole new way of seeing, a new mindset.

    The term it pleased God shows that God laid out His way for people to come to salvation. He planned that people would be saved, and how this would be achieved. The idea of God being pleased, referring to His deliberate plan, is seen elsewhere in the New Testament. He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said,This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”9 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.10

    Those who are being saved (v. 18) are those who “are believing” (v. 21). Faith and commitment to Christ are the main issues. This requires turning away from human wisdom and having a commitment to God’s plan for salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ. In God’s plan, people will be saved. The means of this salvation is through the folly of what we preach.

    For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom.11

    By referring to these two main religious divisions of the world at the time, Paul shows that no one is excluded from what he’s been saying. It’s not that some religions are closer to God than others; rather, all people everywhere have thought that they can reach God by their preferred means.

    Paul states that Jews ask for “signs.” At different points in Israel's history, God acted in their midst with powerful signs. For example, during the Exodus.12 Also, the encounter of the people with God at Mount Sinai, as well as signs in the days of Elijah.13 However, instead of trusting in God and waiting for Him to operate in whatever ways He wished, the Jewish people came to see signs as proof of God’s presence. Their demanding such proofs was condemned in the Old Testament. “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test.”14

    “Greeks” are synonymous with “Gentiles.” Paul says that the Greeks seek wisdom, which meant that this was characteristic of their society. Wisdom was highly esteemed in the world of the Corinthians. Paul saw that while their wisdom had led to great religiosity, it resulted in ignorance of God.

    but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.15

    In a world where no one, Jew or Gentile, had come to true knowledge of God, Paul says we preach Christ crucified. He now sets up a series of contrasts. The Jews and the Gentiles both end up in the place of rejecting a crucified Christ, although they get there in different ways.

    For Jews, the crucified Christ is a “stumbling block.” The concept of stumbling will be an important theme later in the letter. In Paul’s day, Israel is seen to have stumbled on the stone (Christ) rather than finding salvation in Him.

    In the Gentile Greek culture, where the ideal was to seek wisdom in rhetoric or religious and philosophical debate, the crucified and humiliated Christ was considered “folly” and would be rejected.

    …but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.16

    Those who are called have come to believe that in the crucified and risen Christ lies God’s power to transform a people who will be His forever. This wasn’t only true in Paul’s day but continues to be true today. Those who are “called” are those who “believe” (v. 21) and who are “being saved” (v. 18). This group is not distinguished by race, education, wealth, or background, for God has called all types of people, both Jews and Greeks. Those who have been called see things differently. They recognize that the crucified Christ is in fact both “the power of God” and “the wisdom of God.”

    For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.17

    Paul rightly states that what God is and does cannot be compared to what humans might do. God turns the ways of men and women upside down, for He is wiser than can be imagined, and is able to bring His plans into effect in ways that transcend human understanding. His ways are much higher than our ways, as the heavens are higher than the earth (Isaiah 55:8–9). Nothing will obstruct Him and His good purposes for His creation.

    (To be continued.)


    Note

    Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptures are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.


    1 1 Corinthians 1:17.

    2 1 Corinthians 1:18.

    3 Deuteronomy 21:23, Galatians 3:13, 5:11.

    4 1 Corinthians 1:19.

    5 Isaiah 29:14.

    6 1 Corinthians 1:20.

    7 1 Corinthians 1:21.

    8 1 Corinthians 1:2.

    9 Matthew 17:5.

    10 Luke 12:32.

    11 1 Corinthians 1:22.

    12 Exodus 10:1, Deuteronomy 11:2–3.

    13 1 Kings 17–18.

    14 Deuteronomy 6:16.

    15 1 Corinthians 1:23.

    16 1 Corinthians 1:24.

    17 1 Corinthians 1:25.

     

  • Feb 27 1 Corinthians: Chapter 1 (verses 4-16)
  • Feb 14 The Book of 1 Corinthians: Introduction
  • Feb 6 Communication—A Key Part of Relationships
  • Jan 30 The Book of Galatians, Chapter 6 (verses 6-18)
  • Jan 16 The Book of Galatians: Chapter 6 (verses 5:25–6:5)
  • Jan 2 The Book of Galatians: Chapter 5 (verses 13-24)
  • Nov 21 The Book of Galatians: Chapter 5 (verses 2–12)
  • Nov 7 The Book of Galatians: Chapter 4 (verses 4:21–5:1)
  • Oct 24 The Book of Galatians: Chapter 4 (verses 1–20)
   

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