Pastoral Letters

Keeping Worries Under Control

June 5, 2016 Author:Pastor Andrew Tan
Worries seem to be a part of our lives.  Students worry about their studies, then worry about how to climb up the corporate ladder after they secure a job.  After a dreamy time of courtship which culminates in marriage, this frenzy is quickly replaced by the woes of raising a family and children, followed by worrying about their future marriage life.  Just when you thought you have finally regained your freedom, you worry about your children’s children—you have become their babysitter.  As our hairs turn white, we enter into the next stage and perhaps the last stage of worry: when will the end come?  Will I be able to live a long and healthy life with enough money to keep me happy?

The Bible provides ample assurances that with God life is more than bearable, even in the midst of many hardships—He promises sufficient grace to live life.  This is demonstrated in the life of one of the important ancestors of Israel, Jacob.  For some reasons (see Genesis 25:19-34 and 27:1-46), Jacob tricked Esau his elder brother into giving up the privileges of the firstborn (which God told his parents will be given to Jacob).  Consequently, he had to flee from his home (in today’s Israel) to his maternal uncle’s household (in today’s Irag).  Along the way he stopped to rest for the night in Bethel where in his dream, he saw a “stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it” (Genesis 28:12).  There God promised him,

I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham [his grandfather] and the God of Isaac [his father].  I will give you and your descendants [Israelites] the land [Israel] on which you are lying.  Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth . . . I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land.  I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Genesis 28:13-15). 

God knows our worries.  At the lowest point of Jacob’s life when he was fleeing for his life, God comforted him by giving him a vision of the presence of God and a word of assurance.  God also kept His promise to Jacob: after twenty years in his uncle’s household where he was bullied, just before he met up again with Esau, Jacob prayed to God (Genesis 32:10-12):

I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant.  I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan [a river], but now I have become two camps [with 12 children and much herd and cattle].  Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.

God later reconciled Jacob to Esau.  Jacob’s descendants later became the Israel ruled by King David and his descendants.  God has kept his promise to Jacob, and God will also keep his promise to you.  At a time when the Jewish Christians were facing extreme persecution, God promised us: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

God also promised to supply us what we need: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt 6:33).  In fact, God will give us all things necessary to make life happy: “He who did not spare His own Son [Jesus Christ], but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).  Dear child of God, you really need not worry about anything.  Be a responsible student, parent, or employee.  Plan for your future with wisdom.  But above all, honour God in your life.  Then you can rejoice and be at peace because God promises to take care of you and your family.  He keeps promises.  Trust Him.