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“He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ ”—Luke 8:25 One day Peter and the other disciples were out on the open sea in Galilee when a great storm came up. Jesus, weary from days of ministering, had fallen asleep, only to be awakened by His friends' worried and terrified cries, “Master! Master! We are perishing!” Jesus immediately calmed the wind and the raging sea, then turned to His disciples and gently rebuked them. “Where is your faith?” He asked. Where is our faith when we worry and fret and allow the complexities of life to gnaw away at our peace? “Be anxious for nothing,” Paul wrote. “But in everything 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 minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). Worry, a very human emotion, is a process of our minds, of imaginations out of control, of being too focused on ourselves and our inabilities. Instead, Paul exhorts, we need to go to God with all our needs. In return, He promises the peace that will guard our hearts and minds against the fears and anxieties that can destroy us. What a relief it is to give our worries to Him! Again and again, Peter saw Jesus calm the storms of people’s lives, settle the raging waters, heal their pain, fill the fishermen’s nets with fish overflowing, and bring peace and happiness back into His followers’ lives. Peter knew what he spoke of when he reminded us to “cast our cares upon Him.” The cure for worry is one word: trust. Trust in our Heavenly Father, in His love and caring provision. But we can’t trust someone we don’t know. Take time daily to be in His Word and meet Him in prayer. This may sound like a Christian cliché, but it is honestly the most basic and reliable way to eradicate worry. I need to do this every day! We have a choice. We can live our lives burdened by worry, or we can trust in God’s blessings. Remember, the Lord is your Heavenly Father, who loves you and wants to take your worries, fears, and anxieties and replace them with His peace, His love, and the joy of living in His care.
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