The Anxiety Of Being Faithful
I was sitting in Starbucks one afternoon after having persevered through a good bit of sexual temptation. And this overwhelming thought hit me: "How am I supposed to be pure for the rest of my life?" It was so heavy. And demoralizing. I felt defeated by the task before me. And in that moment my mind immediately went to Matthew 25 where God softly, gently, graciously reminded me: "I will meet your needs to be faithful today. Tomorrow’s strength will come tomorrow."
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Are you anxious about the daunting task of being faithful for the rest of your life? God wants to unburden you from that weight. Just follow Him today. Tomorrow will come tomorrow. Allow Jesus to take that pressure and weight off of you by spending time with Him. You don’t have to go through it alone, that’s one of the points of temptation. To knit us into a dependence on God, not ourselves.
He will guide you through it, just walk with Him. You can't go back and change anything. You can't go forward and alter the future. You have today. So be faithful today. Trust His grace for your past, but also your present and future. He will supply everything you need to be faithful. For it is never your works that make him love you, but His desire to be gracious to sinners. If we turn to Him each day, He will not leave us to our own.
Seeking purity with you on a warm September morning,
Josh.
