TODAY’S SCRIPTURE Hebrews 13:5-6
Joseph Stalin suffered from paralyzing fear. Power did not provide him with freedom from worry. He had several different bedrooms that he switched between for sleeping in order to fool any assassins. He drove with five different limousines with the windows covered by curtains. A special servant of his even protected Stalin’s teabags to ensure that no one poisoned them.
Peace and freedom from worry are not found in a sense of self-sufficiency. Our pursuit of “having things together,” power, money, job security, etc. is a fruitless effort to achieve release from worry. So long as our efforts to find peace rely on us as the means of that, we will always be subject to disappointment and fear because none of our possessions, positions, or power are stable or guaranteed to last. True peace and security is found in accepting and embracing what little power we have so that we will give ourselves more fully to God’s unfailing power and control.
If the ideal circumstances we try to create for ourselves in order to reach a point of no worry were actually effective, then men like Joseph Stalin with all his money, power, and influence would’ve been at ultimate peace. But if stories like his prove anything, it’s that external circumstances are no match for the internal attitude of faith that produces perseverance even in the worst of circumstances.
It has often been said, “Safety consists not in the absence of danger but in the presence of God.” This is in line with the words of Hebrews 13:5-6, which encourage us not to rely on money (which can stand for all other forms of false security we may seek) but rather on the fact that God will never leave or forsake us. Even in death, God will bring us home. The peace that Jesus offers most is ultimately based in the hope of Heaven. In Christ, because of eternal peace, we can have internal peace, in spite of any lack of external peace we may face.
Today, I will…consider what self-sufficient means I may be using to create freedom from worry on my own and pray that God will give me the strength to embrace His ability to give me what I really need.