A passage from Oswald Chambers’ devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, reminds me why Jesus on numerous occasions questioned his disciples’ faith. His disciples would worry, question, and disbelieve.
And they were in the presence of Jesus.
Chambers wrote:
Fussing always ends in sin. We imagine that a little anxiety and worry are an indication of how really wise we are; it is much more an indication of how really wicked we are. Fretting springs from a determination to get our own way. Our Lord never worried and He was never anxious, because He was not âoutâ to realise His own ideas; He was âoutâ to realise Godâs ideas. Fretting is wicked if you are a child of God.
Have you been bolstering up that stupid soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God? Put all âsupposingâ on one side and dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about that thing. All our fret and worry is caused by calculating without God.
I don’t know about you, but I find myself in this scenario quite often. I pray and plan, but I plan with the wrong motives. I do the “plan B”. I should be preparing for God’s answers, but instead I find myself planning if God doesn’t answer (or at least what I think the answer should be) my request. Can I get a witness here? Am I alone in this?
According to Chambers, calculating without God is the exact reason why we have anxiety, why we lack peace. I’ve got to stop bolstering up that “stupid soul” of mine and instead trust in God’s promises, like the one He gives us through the Apostle Paul.
“The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 4:5b-7, ESV).
Also we need to consider the ending of the Apostle Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians.
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen,” Ephesians 3:20-21, ESV).
Then consider the words of David who wrote:
“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday,” (Psalm 37:5, ESV).
David continues and exhorts readers not to fret what they see around them, but to wait on God patiently.
If I truly believe the words above, I would stop calculating without God. I would start to walk by faith. God is my Father and will take care of my needs, and He can handle any challenge that I currently face, (Matthew 6:25-33; 10:29-31; Luke 12:11-12). I can trust Him. Why worry? Why consider “plan B” when God has provided the plan.
May we all stop calculating without God.