Today I will continue my current series entitled, REASONS WHY NOT TO FEAR! Reason #10: God Was Not Caught Off Guard! God is never surprised by anything! This is a very important point. Let’s discuss it today.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. God already saw this coming.
(Psalm 139:16 NLT)
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
a) There is nothing God does not know.
— God knows everything. When I say “everything”, I meant it!
— God knows your thoughts before you think them, your desires before you have them, your emotions before you feel them, your passions before you develop them, and your actions before you take them.
— God perfectly and eternally knows all things which can be known: Past, present, and future.
— There is nothing God does not know now, nor will there ever be anything unknown to Him!
b) God knows the end from the beginning.
— God knew how your life would end before you were born.
— God knows the end of a situation before it begins.
— God is never surprised, never caught off-guard, never amazed, astonished or dumbstruck.
— According to His foreknowledge of everything, including your decisions, God planned out your entire life before you were born. Every day of your life was recorded in His book, with your name on it, before one day had passed. If this is true (and it is), then your stint with Coronavirus was NOT a surprise to God! He knew this was coming and He already prepared for your success. What God is doing now is preparing you for the victory He already prepared!
2. God has already been to your tomorrow and He prepared for it.
(Matthew 6:31-34 NLT)
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’
32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.
33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
a) As a Born-Again believer, your thought-life should be different from those who do not know God.
— Right now people are “freaking out” over toilet paper, food, money, etc. Jesus said, “These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.”
— The fact that God knows, He cares, and He already prepared for this, should give you peace.
— God was prepared for this, even if you feel like you were not. The fact that this was not a surprise to God, should help you enter into His rest.
b) Don’t worry about tomorrow, because God has already been there.
— If you watch the news right now, people are speculating about tomorrow. They are speculating about how long this will last, whether or not we will fall into a recession, whether or not the death toll will exceed ‘this number’ or ‘that number’. But the truth is, NONE OF THEM really knows.
— The only being who has been to our future already is God, and He came back from there to tell us NOT TO WORRY about tomorrow!
3. You can’t worry and trust God at the same time.
(Philippians 4:6-8 NLT)
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
a) The Bible tells us, in no unclear terms, NOT TO WORRY!
— Instead of worrying about anything, the Apostle Paul told us to PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING!
— Paul said that if we pray, instead of worry, we will experience that exceeds anything we can understand.
b) God’s peace exceeds human comprehension.
— God’s peace cannot be figured out, because this peace is beyond human peace.
— God’s peace is supernatural. It baffles psychologists and psychiatrists. People cannot figure out how believers can seem so at peace in the midst of circumstances that bring others to their knees.
— For the believer, this is not something we need to try to figure out. Our job is to believe and receive it. We can receive a supernatural peace that passes all understanding and human comprehension.
c) God’s peace can guard our hearts and minds.
— The word translated “guard” in Phil 4:6 is a military term. It literally means ‘to pull guard duty’.
— When we choose to PRAY and NOT WORRY, it is like the peace of God pulls shift around our hearts and our minds to ensure we don’t slip into the grips of fear, doubt or unbelief.
— This peace enables us to enjoy the inner confidence that God will see us through every situation, no matter how difficult the situation may seem.
— God was God before Coronavirus and He will still be God after it is gone!
d) God told us what to set our minds on; what to think about.
— Paul said, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
— You get to choose what you think about all day. Believe it or not, what you think about is YOUR CHOICE!
— Paul said, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Col 3:2). Just like you can set a thermostat, you can SET your mind on the “HEAVEN” setting. This will help you keep the proper perspective, no matter what is going on in this world!
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I am not worried about tomorrow, because You are the only being who has already been to my tomorrow and You came back with good news. You told me that You already made plans for me. You prepared for things I something feels unprepared for. Even when I am caught off-guard, I find peace in knowing that You were not. You know all things. You are never surprised. You have been to my future, You already prepared for my success, and You are now preparing me to walk in the victory You already provided. Knowing this, I enter into this day free of all worry, fear, doubt or unbelief. I declare this by faith! In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
