WHY WORRY WHEN
YOU CAN PRAY!
In my recent journey of memories, we found an old group picture of church summer camp. Many groups were there from different churches, and each group was dressed in special outfits for the camp picture. And there in the middle of this large group was mother, myself, my cousin, and others who were there from our church for a wonderful week of hearing God’s Word, fun and fellowship. I went to this camp from the time I was nine years old through my last year of high school, and there were so many memories as we looked through these pictures. And many of my commitments for my life ahead, and my walk and service for the Lord were made around the campfire at camp. Oh, such precious memories!
The camp is in the High Sierra Mountains, and as the road
winds ever closer to the camp, it gets very narrow, with cliffs on the side,
and thick forests. And on this
particular trip to camp mother was driving, and in the car were my cousin and
another lady from our church, and may have been others in the car. This lady’s name was Mina and she was
terrified of those mountain curves. And
as mother drove around those curves she began to sing:
Trust Jesus, He
leads the way.
Don’t be like
doubting Thomas
Who leaned not on
His promise,
Why worry, worry,
worry
When you can pray.
(Unknown)
As I remember, mother sang that song over and over all the way into the camp, and Mina became calm and was reminded when she was fearful, she should pray, and the Lord would calm her fears, and she could look forward to her week at camp, and the drive back down that mountain, around those curves, back down into the valley.
And as we, as God’s children, continue our journey in
this life, there will be many mountain passes to travel through also. Some of our “mountain” journey will lead us
to those wonderful mountain top experiences with the Lord. As a child and continuing on into high
school, those moments at camp were so precious with the Lord, that I did not
want to leave the mountain and go home.
But the time comes when we have to face the challenges ahead and spend
time in the valleys.
And no matter how steep the mountain may become, our Lord
has walked that path before you, and He knows what is ahead and around the next
curve. And someday, we will round the
last bend, and there ahead of us will be our destination, heaven at last.
I remember so well going around those curves, and the
last climb into the camp ground. There
was an old oak tree, from which the camp was named, and there was the archway
leading into camp, and there we could see at last all the camp before us, the
lodge, and the dormitories where we stayed and so on. And, especially as a
child, I was so excited! Can you imagine
with me the excitement climbing that last curve and down the road and there is
your heavenly home? Heaven won’t begin
to compare with summer camp, but it will be permanent, never having to go back
to the valley, never having to go back to sorrow or pain. We will never have to
leave the “mountain top” again. Praise
the Lord!
And as we travel through the “mountains of our lives”, He
calls us not to worry when the way gets rough.
We live in tough times, life for some is very hard and difficult. Some worry where the next paycheck will come
from so they can feed their families.
But listen to the words of Jesus, as He calls us not to worry about
tomorrow:
“Therefore do not
worry, saying, ‘what shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we
wear?’ “For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need
all these things. “But seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to
you. “Therefore do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” Matthew
6:31-34.
The Lord is telling us in this hour not to worry about
draught, or water shortages, or buying clothing tomorrow, for ourselves or our
children. Our Wonderful Lord knows that
we need the basic necessities of life.
But look at what He says is the solution to our worries about tomorrow. He calls us to seek His kingdom, walk with
Him, serve Him and make Him the Lord of our lives. And how do we do that? It is by spending time in prayer and reading
His Word. His Word is full of His
precious promises to you, to me. His
Word is “our daily bread,” as we read, pray and meditate on those precious
promises.
And He calls us not to worry about what may happen
tomorrow, not to be fearful about those things coming to pass in our
world. He wants us to just live for
today, right now. Tomorrow will have its
own troubles.
“But you, when you
pray, to into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father
who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you
openly” Matthew 6:6.
So when those worries began to come, and you become
anxious about the needs in your life, go into your prayer closet (your room)
and shut the door and pour it out to your Lord, as He will hear from heaven,
and will being you peace in the situation, and we serve a Wonderful prayer
answering God.
And if you don’t know Jesus as your personal Savior, and
you are filled with fear and anxiety about the future, call on Him now. He is waiting for you. And you, too, can learn to lean on His
promises and instead of being filled with worry, you can pray.
And we all look forward to that wonderful day, after all
the struggles on our journey on the steep pathway home, we will “See Our Home, Sweet
Home.” And we will never have to worry
again. Praise the Lord!
Home, sweet home,
Home, sweet home.
Where I’ll never
roam.
I see the light of
That city so
bright,
My home, sweet
home.
(N.B. Vandall)
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