This quote was taken from John Piper's book" Future Grace"..( if you read my blogs consistently, i know you may be wondering, gesh, she has something from a different book on here daily..lol, I do..its whatever He wants me to read for that day :)
I love this because as a ministry wife, I find myself always worrying, about my marriage( are we balancing it out with ministry?) my child..(am I teaching her to love the LORD, to love justice, show mercy and walk humbly with our God?) and now the children in our neighborhood( are they really ok at home? who is this child wondering the streets during school hours? where are the parents? where are the FATHERS?) I am reminded of the fact that worrying is a sin that I must confess before the LORD and trust in HIS promises to give me the peace that surpasses all understanding..this happens ONLY In OBEDIENCE to what HE says...
For the past couple of days I had found myself anxious over a meeting I had today.. I was in bondage to the fear of what people may have thought of me, how they may have felt about my interpretation of scripture, and the like...NOTICE all that I mentioned is what I thought...not hard core facts...my fear was based off of what I had came up with in my heart...again.. I had a THOUGHT, it brought up an emotion(FEAR, ANXIETY) , which lead.. to me trying to think of ways to not attend this meeting(my will)
Taking your thoughts captive is so serious..BUt I love that the LORD has given me everything pertaining to life and godliness and His presence was so ever faithful with me today..His word( which is my windshield wipers) and His holy Spirit( my windshield wiper fluid) definitely soften/ erased the lies(the mud on my windshield) that caused me to be blind to the truth
Father would you please bless all who read this FUTURE GRACE to trust in your sovereign care over them and those they love..
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"There is another possible response to the truth that our anxiety is rooted in our unbelief in God's promises. It goes like this: I have to deal with feelings of anxiety almost every day; and so I feel like my belief in God must be totally inadequate. So I wonder if I can have any assurance of being saved at all.
Being Faithless Vs. Having Faith Attacked
My answer to this concern goes like this: Suppose you are in a car race and your enemy who doesn't want you to finish the race throws mud on your windshield. The fact that you temporarily lose sight of your goal and start to swerve does not mean that you are going to quit the race. And it certainly doesn't mean that you are on the wrong racetrack. Otherwise the enemy wouldn't bother you at all. What it means is that you should turn on your windshield wipers and use your windshield washer.
What I mean is this: when anxiety strikes and blurs our vision of God's glory and the greatness of the future that he plans for us, this does not mean that we are faithless, or that we will not make it to heaven. It means our faith is being attacked. At first blow our belief in God's promises may sputter and swerve. But whether we stay on track and make it to the finish line depends on whether we set in motion a process of resistance. Whether we fight back against anxiety. Will we turn on the windshield wipers and will we use our windshield washer?
The Testimony of Scripture
Psalm 56:3 says, "When I am afraid, I put my trust in thee." Notice: it does not say, "I never struggle with fear." Fear strikes and the battle begins. So the Bible does not assume that true believers will have no anxieties. Instead the Bible tells us how to fight when they strike.
For example, 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you." It does NOT say, you will never feel any anxieties to cast onto God. It says, when the mud splatters your windshield and you lose temporary sight of the road and start to swerve in anxiety, turn on your wipers and squirt your windshield washer.
To the One Who Struggles Daily with Anxiety
So my response to the person who has to deal with feelings of anxiety every day is to say: that's more or less normal. The issue is how you deal with them.
And the answer to that is: you deal with anxieties by battling unbelief. And you battle unbelief by meditating on God's Word and asking for the help of his Spirit. The windshield wipers are the promises of God that clear away the mud of unbelief. And the windshield washer fluid is the help of the Holy Spirit.
Without the softening work of the Holy Spirit the wipers of the Word just scrape over the blinding clumps of unbelief. Both are necessary—the Spirit and the Word. We read the promises of God and we pray for the help of his Spirit. And as the windshield clears so we can see the welfare that God plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11), our belief grows strong and the swerving of anxiety smoothes out."