SCAPEGOAT HILL BAPTIST CHURCH NEWSLETTER – AUGUST 2022

Dear Friends,

While looking through some old paperwork, I came across this helpful item from an old Keswick calendar.

‘Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but it empties today of its strength.  Worry is the interest you pay on trouble before it comes.  (Anon.)’

We’re probably all guilty of worrying when we don’t need to – it’s a common human habit.  Jesus knew that, so he has words just to help us with deal with this.  In Matthew 6 verses 25 to 34 he goes through a lot of the things that we regularly worry about and reassures us that our Heavenly Father knows all about our needs and anxieties.  Jesus sums it up in verse 34: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

It is very easy to let world events and pressure from closer to home, distract us and make us uneasy and uncertain about the future.  This is why Jesus addressed this problem directly.  He knew it was necessary to remind us that there is no need to let stress and worry fill our lives and make us tired and anxious.  The apostle Paul also has good advice about not worrying.  In Philippians 4 verse 6 he says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.”

You have heard from me before about being thankful, it is amazing what a difference this makes to how you feel.  We have far more to be thankful for than to worry and fret about. If we turn our thoughts to our blessings instead of our troubles it can transform our outlook.  There are always going to be difficult times and events which may cause pain and distress, but we can be certain that the Lord is with us through whatever happens, we just have to ask. We make things worse by concentrating on the ‘bad’ things and imagining future problems before they happen. 

Joseph Scriven in his hymn, ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’, summarises this and as he says,

“O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!”

So, when you are tempted to dwell on life’s problems and all that is happening around the world, do the best thing and talk to the Lord about it.  Remembering to be thankful that we are able to have that conversation, because the Lord Jesus died for us to make it possible.

Every blessing,

Frances