I have to admit that getting started on each day’s blog is not always easy. It isn’t that I don’t have anything to say, but that I have so many things swirling around in my head that selecting one is my constant challenge. Don’t get me wrong; I realize that at my age to have this mental state is itself a blessing. I thank God daily for a sound mind and for the gift of word craft He has given me. Today is one of those days when I’ve had to wait a little longer on the Lord to point me in the direction He wants, and finally I think I have it. Between the two trains of thought with which I wrestled – the applicability of Queen Esther’s story to our present times or our potential to hurt Jesus in our present times – I’ve chosen the latter.
The concept that we can hurt God, hurt Jesus, might be a little out of the box for some. I don’t use the word in the sense that humans can actually “hurt” the Divine as we understand the meaning of the word in contemporary culture. It was today’s reading in My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers that germinated my thinking. Chambers writes, “…it is probable that we are hurting Him (God) by the questions we ask.” His reference was to Philip’s question to Jesus in John 14:9, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” We can read Jesus’ astonishment (His hurt) in His reply. “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father?” Just as Philip’s request stung Jesus in that time, so I imagine that our doubts and worries and fears do the same during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I read somewhere quite a while ago that “worry is a sin.” How can that be I wondered? The Lord eventually led me to understand that if He has commanded us to do something and we choose not to obey, then we sin. Simply put, sin is disobedience toward God’s commands. Jesus states clearly in John 14:1, “Do not let your hearts be troubles. Trust in God; trust also in me.” That is a command He gave to His disciples to comfort and prepare them for His eventual crucifixion. As Jesus’ followers, we believe those words and all the other commands He gave the disciples are also for us. At His ascension, He commanded them to go into all the world and teach others what He had taught them. So we have the word directly from the our Bible that we are not to be troubled. At another time, Jesus commanded them/us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27) And how can we forget, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
I am of the mind that each time we allow the “triumvirate”: Worry, Anxiety and Fear to touch our spirit, we sin and are in effect “hurting” Jesus. The question becomes, how do we dare “hurt” the One upon whom we have placed our hope? The One who has demonstrated His love and grace and mercy countless times in our lives? The One we know is the only One who has control over everything? The One whose thoughts we never can fathom, but who knows what is best for us, irrespective of how it might look to us at the present moment. Yes, when we allow the crisis of the moment to reduce us to worrying, anxiety and fear, we commit sin and bring “hurt” to our Savior. Christians who both profess and practice their faith are called to allow God’s manifestation in them. He does not resides along side either worry, anxiety or fear.
Love. Joy. Peace.