6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
I love reading the epistles of Paul to the Saints. He has such a love and concern for them. However, sometimes they can be a little confusing. When I first read this scripture, I wasn't sure what to think. I thought about focusing in on just a word, like Thanksgiving, or Peace.
The next time I read it, I started reading all of the footnotes. I learned that "careful" could be substituted with "afflicted", or that the whole phrase could be substituted with "don't be unduly concerned about anything.
This began to change the meaning for me. As I have studied and pondered I have come to learn that for me this scripture is telling me to not be concerned about the little things, but instead turn it over to my Heavenly Father through prayer, and with a grateful heart. Have I ever told my Heavenly Father thank you for the fact that I can turn my burdens over to him?
The word afflicted really struck me also. Too often I spend my time worrying about little things, details that aren't important and I let myself get worked up over them. To be afflicted by them. I forget that I know that I can turn the worrying over to my Heavenly Father. It is a hard thing for me to let go of things and I need constant reminders about it. The greatest part, though, is the promise - the peace of God.
The last few weeks I have had a dilemma that I have been trying to figure out involving my sons' job and a car pool. It was something that shouldn't have been that big of deal, yet it was a huge focus for me. So much so that I was indeed feeling afflicted. I prayed about it, stewed about it, thought about it, with no solution. I was reading this scripture in the temple and reading the footnotes and felt prompted. I thought at the time that my answer was to let it go and be okay with how it was. Then that afternoon I was presented with an opportunity to change it. I took it and thought - this was really my answer. Then, later that evening my solution fell through. I was back to thinking that I really need to just accept it.
In fact what I needed was to simply let the feelings of affliction go. To be thankful to my Heavenly Father and to let him know that I could be okay with it.
I finally felt at peace. No longer was it consuming my thoughts and causing me stress. I could feel peace again. Then an amazing thing happened. I literally had someone show up on my doorstep with the answer to my problem! I know this seems like such a silly thing to make such a big deal about, but I was reminded that our Heavenly Father cares about us so much that He is concerned even about the little things. It doesn't have to be a big problem to go to our Heavenly Father and ask for His help, to allow Him to help us.
In fact, we are reminded later on in this chapter, in verse 13, of a great important truth. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." But we must remember to ask. I'll end today with the same farewell that Paul used to close his epistle. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." He loves you! What problems can he help you with today?
Love,
Sis. Norris
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