An Answer to Anxiety

Our reading this week is Proverbs 9 to 12. It was in chapter 12 that a verse jumped out at me from this morning's reading. Proverbs 12:25 -

Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down,But a good word makes it glad.

With our recent elections behind us, I am finding some reduction of anxiety and worry among the people I speak to throughout the week, but I am still finding a lot of anxious people. As the holiday season approaches, new stresses will weigh on people's hearts. There is the stress of hosting holiday parties, the stress of visiting family, the stress of cooking a perfect turkey, the stress of buying gifts for the kids, the stress attending all the social events of the season, the stress of attending the kids' Christmas performances, and the stress of closing out a business year while juggling all these other responsibilities. People are anxious. Their hearts are burdened.

Maybe this describes you. Maybe it describes someone you know.

The writer of Proverbs 12 seems to know people carrying similar stresses and anxieties. And the writer has also observed a remedy -- a good word.

It is amazing what a word of encouragement and affirmation can do. You can alter someone's whole day with a good work spoken at the right time.

Can you think of someone who needs a good word today?

Can you be the one to deliver it?

Isaiah 52:7 says:

How lovely on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace
And brings good news of happiness,
Who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'

Maybe today you need to receive such a word. Jesus is speaking such words, and his words are life to our bodies and souls. That's why we call the message of Jesus "Gospel." Gospel means "good news." It is a good word to our anxious hearts. It is hope in the midst of despair. It is life when the circumstances of life are killing us.

Hear the good word of Jesus today. He loves you. He has a purpose for you. He will not abandon you. In him, there is forgiveness and freedom. In him, your past does not have to define you or weigh you down. In him is the good word of eternal and abundant life!

The Cords of Sin

The "cords of his sin." (Proverbs 5:22b)

I found this phrase interesting and instructive this morning. One of the regular and recurring challenges of Christian ministry is providing help and wisdom to people who have been broken and crushed by life. Many is the time that I sit and listen to stories of dire need and wonder at the chain of decisions that has brought them to this point. And all too often these decisions are like a chain, weighing them down, keeping them bound and enslaved to destructive habits and lifestyles. "Cords of sin' is a poetic, descriptive phrase for them and their situations.

And if I am honest, I am hardly better. I often find myself entangled with and fighting the cords of sin. My selfishness gets in the way. My impatience with not having it all my own way rises to the surface. My mind and my attention wander from the good that God has given to me at this moment, in this place, on this day. If I am not careful, I can trip and fall over these treacherous cords.

But as I read Proverbs this morning, I was reminded of good news. Gospel.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, (Luke 4:12)

Jesus quoted Isaiah during his sermon at Nazareth.

He breaks the power of canceled sin
And sets the prisoner free,

said John Wesley in the hymn, O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing.

And what about the Preacher of Hebrew's great words:

let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God this morning. (Hebrews 12:1 - 2)

If you find yourself tangled in the cords of sin, weighted down by a past that seeks to enslave and belittle you, know today that you are loved and that Christ has set you free. Receive his grace, and let new life begin!

Turn Your Foot from Evil

We begin this morning a month long reading in the Book of Proverbs. Chapters 1 to 4 are our focus this week. And chapter 4 ends with these words:

Turn your foot from evil.

In many ways, this is the aim of the entire collection of Proverbs - to challenge and equip a person to turn their feet from evil paths. Wisdom is the key. Wisdom enables and instructs a person to recognize evil and to choose good. This is why Solomon can write of wisdom:

Prize her, and she will exalt you;
She will honor you if you embrace her.
She will place on your head a garland of grace;
She will present you with a crown of beauty.
Proverbs 4:8 - 9

And where does wisdom begin? It begins with "the fear of the Lord." (1:7) To recognize the truth about God's greatness, God's power, and God's majesty is a good place to start reckoning about one's own life and the path's we have chosen. It is also a good place to start one's day!

And what is the first application of this truth about God that Solomon identifies? He warns us away from violence and violent men.

My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
If they say, "Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood,
let us ambush the innocent without cause. . .
. . . My son, do not walk in the way with them.
Keep your feet from their path,
For their feet run to evil
And they hasten to shed blood.
Proverbs 1:10 - 16

Despite all of our civilizing efforts and our talk of human rights, we still live in a very violent world. The murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the attempted cover-up by the Saudi state, and the thinking and talking about it in our own country reveals a disturbing inclination toward violence and its justification. As does the recent shooting of rock-throwing protesters in Nigeria by the Nigerian army. Equally troubling - and maybe more so - is the justification of those shootings by quoting our American President's words! And it seems to much to mention the recent shootings at the Tree of Life Synagogue, or the shootings at the yoga studio, or the explosive devices sent to those of a different political persuasion. We are surrounded by violence - and we are surrounded by those who would justify it. There are many who would "hasten to shed blood."

But this is not wisdom. Nor is this the path to good. On the contrary, Solomon identifies such bloodthirsty and callous people as "sinners," and he calls their methods "evil."

Today, I pray that God's church would be a place of peace and that we would be known as peacemakers. God, keep our feet from evil! Turn our feet from the paths of violence and lead us in the way of life!