Q&A: Worry and Forgiveness
Q: How can we not worry with all that is going on in the world?
I woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. My heart was pounding and my mind was racing. "Will I be able to pay our bills when our first child arrives?"
Even though we were seven months from our daughter's birth, catastrophic scenarios flooded my mind. I was overcome with worry. As a follower of Christ, I was fully aware of His command to "not worry" (Matthew 6) but I did not know how to stop it. What is the solution to this nuisance that so easily creeps in? From both my personal struggles and my professional studies, Christ has shown me ways to escape the worry trap. First, specifically identify what the concern is. When we are unaware of what we fear, we are left with a general sense of dread. Only by identifying the specific worry can we develop a plan of action.
Second, remember the good that God has done in your life. I get frustrated reading of how the Israelites panicked each time they faced a challenge while wandering in the wilderness, despite having witnessed the parting of the Red Sea. Yet I am guilty of the same failure of faith. When we worry, we fear the future will be unbearable.
By focusing on how God has provided for us in the past, we can find hope that He will sustain us in the future.
Finally, find a replacement for the worry. Ridding ourselves of worry is not good enough, we must put something in its place. In The Cycle of Victorious Living, Earl Lee offers an effective substitution for worry through prayer. He suggests we replace worry with a prayer including the elements of committing the situation to God, expressing trust in Him, delighting in what He will do, and resting in Him. This four-step prayer procedure is based on scripture (Psalm 37) and we can apply it at the first sign of worry.
These solutions are not a quick fix, but we can persistently make these a habit each time we encounter worry, and God will provide His perfect peace. JG
Q: Why is it so hard to confess our sins and practice forgiveness?
Years ago a parishioner confronted me after the Sunday morning worship service. She was incredibly upset. When I discovered what was so disconcerting to her, I thought she was joking. Apparently in my concluding invitation to prayer, I said, "Let us pray the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray."
What could offend any follower of Jesus in the prayer He taught us to pray?
The line in the prayer that brought such consternation was the line asking for forgiveness. Many of us wish or misunderstand the prayer to say something to God like, "Forgive us until we are entirely sanctified," or "Teach us to forgive others because we are forgiven." But it doesn't.
Jesus taught the disciples, and us, to pray because He knew we would love to consider ourselves as controlling our lives from our own great store of righteousness. At times we want to convince ourselves that all we really need is to be excused or understood, but certainly not forgiven. This takes us out of control. It means that we are suddenly at the mercy of someone else, that we have to account for our lives to someone beside ourselves.
We realize that we are known and need grace. When we pray as Jesus taught us to, we struggle to know what word to use in asking for forgiveness. Do we use the word "debt" as in Matthew's account, or the word "sin" as employed in Luke's witness? Most of the time we prefer the word "trespass," from the King James Version.
Perhaps it seems more tolerable to say that we have trespassed someone's property. This suggests that we did not know or calculate our misstep. Or, the "map" we were using was a little off. We didn't intend to go across those boundary lines, it just happened.
The Lord's Prayer seems to be calling us, not in spite of our debt, but rather in light of our debt, to live dependent upon God's gracious hospitality.
Jesus' prayer implies that in the way we conduct our lives, we all too often miss God's will as it is in heaven. However, Scripture shows us that the will of God includes: caring for our neighbors, forgiving our enemies, giving to the needy, praying in secret, serving, being last instead of first, being content, turning the other cheek, being anxious about nothing, controlling our tongues, and seeking the Kingdom above all.
Does Jesus not realize we are merely human? We wonder if the Scriptures really mean what they say: If possible, show neighborly love. Once we are over the hurt our enemy has inflicted, forgive him or her. Give to the needy when we have the ability. Pray, even in secret. Serve when the cause is good. Be last so someday we will be first. Be content when God works out the situation for our benefit. Turn the other cheek when we hold a position of power. Live so we will have no cause to be anxious. Seek the Kingdom in our inner lives.
Jesus did not simply preach about, but embodied, the very kingdom of God. The way He lived was nothing less than the Father's will done on earth as it is in heaven. When we look at Jesus and then at ourselves, we see an obvious difference. So, what are we to do? Perhaps we already have the answer: We do what Jesus taught us to do. We pray, "Forgive us as we forgive..." SG
Holiness Today, July/August 2008
Please note: This article was originally published in 2008. All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at that time but may have since changed.
