By: Adam McClendon
www.newlineministries.com
I’m so stressed out. I mean really stressed. I feel overwhelmed, under-impressed, underachieved, underwater, blah-blah, blah-blah, blah. I wish I could just go to Target’s customer service and say, “Uhm, yes. I’d like to purchase a pint of peace please.” Yes, ridiculous, but so very true. I can’t believe how often I succumb to the pressures of life and begin to worry.
Then, this morning, I’m praying and studying Scripture, when this verse just tackled my heart.
Isaiah 53:5: But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
If I have peace with God now through the blood of Jesus Christ, then what else is there to worry about? I have peace with God! So, maybe the income will be short this month, or maybe the test comes back positive, or maybe my child is as annoying as they seem, or maybe the dog did ruin the new rug, or maybe my house will not be clean when the in-laws arrive, or maybe my house will be foreclosed on, or maybe I will have to go to the grocery store again, or maybe my spouse will file the divorce papers, or maybe I did fail the biology test, or maybe, or maybe, or maybe.
How can these temporal, petty, ultimately insignificant, many times never-even-happening things compare with the fact that I have been reconciled to God through the blood of Christ?
This does not belittle the reality that some of these things are worthy of attention; however, they are not to be the ultimate focus of my heart, and, so long as the ultimate focus of my heart is maintained upon being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, then I have nothing to fret over. I have peace with God.