I have a terrible habit of letting Dr. Google and Dr. ChatGPT diagnose my problems. Maybe I have a weird looking spot on my leg or my knee is making a strange, new sound when I go down the steps. Or, my heart fluttered enough to make me uncomfortable. A quick search on my iPhone tells me I’ve got skin cancer, I need a knee replacement, and I likely have early signs of congestive heart failure.
Maybe your heart skipped a beat just reading that. (Mine does too, see heart flutter mentioned above). It’s enough to give anyone anxiety and fear before anything is confirmed.
Do you do that too? Or maybe call your doctor or seek counsel from your spouse or a friend before the spot on your leg even has a chance to fade.
So often we consult everyone and everything before God. We seek instant answers. We want to know ourselves and what’s going on before consulting the One who created us, who formed us, who knows our every movement, heartbeat, and T-cell.
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139:13-16
He knows us. He hears every thought before it’s formed, every symptom, every moment of worry–and yet we still forget to rest in His care for us.
Consumed by distraction
We carry small computers with us everywhere we go that are embellished with a bitten fruit logo on the back of the device’s hardware. It’s almost ironic considering Genesis 3. Like Adam and Eve once did, we too have access to knowing more than we know and ways to determine outcomes. But having that kind of constant access doesn’t bring constant peace. It can actually do the opposite.
Centuries ago there wasn’t a way to know what was going on in the next town over, much less across the world. Modern technology, possibly beginning with the printing press, changed everything, giving us the good and the bad of knowing the affairs of others and the world all around us.
I tap my phone and I can see up-to-the-minute what is happening in Washington, D.C., Israel, Ukraine, and anywhere. I can also see what new endeavor a friend from college is pursuing or what someone from church had for lunch. These are strange times.
It makes me wonder: What if we weren’t meant to know it all? What if the burdens of global updates and self-diagnoses were never meant to be ours to carry? The more we know, the more overwhelmed we become–about ourselves, the world, the future.
Our soul’s enemy wants us to stay overstimulated, distracted, and anxious. It’s hard to focus on our real lives, our God-given roles, and present moments when we are overwhelmed. It’s hard to remember to look to the Savior when anxiety floods our brains.
This same enemy wants us to rely less on the Creator of the universe and believe we can depend on ourselves for anything.
Fear adds nothing, faith anchors everything
But we weren’t made to carry the weight of having all-knowledge and self-reliance. We were made to trust the One who sees and knows all and to be eternally grounded in Him.
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
Psalm 139:1-6
And praise the Lord because when we try to carry it all, we collapse. When we look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, we find true peace again.
Jesus asked, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:27).
The answer is none of us. Fear doesn’t add anything to our lives, but rather, letting the peace of God rule in our hearts does. He’s placed eternity in our hearts (Ecc. 3:11) and that longing for security and certainty? It’is only meant to be met by Him.
The LORD is my Shepherd. I have all that I need. (Psalm 23:1)
In Him we are safe.
In Him we are known and loved.
In Him we are already held. He hems us in, behind and before, and lays His hand upon us (Psalm 139:5).
These are the things I know for sure right now:
- Tomorrow is gone.
- The God who knows all things knows all the details of what our future looks like.
- Today is what we’ve been given.
All of it–yesterday, today, and forever–rests in the capable hands of El Shaddai, God Almighty.
You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
Isaiah 26:3
Pray:
Lord, help me to not be guided by momentary impulses or manufactured results. Help me to trust You–not what I see, feel, or search for. Turn my heart away from the temporary and lead me in what lasts: Your Word, Your character, Your Kingdom. Lead me in the way everlasting. Amen!
Reflect:
How is God different from me? How is that a good thing?
How can I focus on today without getting caught up in a tangle of worry and what ifs for the future?
What boundaries can I set to help protect my heart and mind to be eternity-focused?
Photo by Gabriele Agrillo on Unsplash
All scripture references are from the English Standard Version, unless otherwise noted.
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Anna Moore 
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