He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and most important command.  The second is like it, Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the law and the prophets depend on these two commands.”   Matthew 22:36-40  HCSB

Have you ever been around someone that is peaceful in the midst of turmoil and chaos?  Have you ever been around someone that is confident in times of trouble? Have you wondered how they manage to do that? Now right here I could use the scripture passage in Matthew 6:33 which tells us to focus on God and He will take care of all our needs. Or I could use the scripture passage in Philippians 4:6 which tells us not to worry about anything but to bring everything to God in prayer with thanksgiving and this will give us a peace that passes all understanding. Both of those scripture passages will help you to remain calm in the eye of the storm, but I figured we better start with the basics.

If you really want to know how to live a life that is not filled with worry, then you need to start with loving the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. When you do this, your focus is on Him.  When you do this, your first line of defense in hard times is prayer.

I share these things with you because even though I grew up in church with a mother and a grandmother that were wonderful role models, I was a little dense and it took me a while to grasp this completely.  I spent time worrying when the devil would whisper the “what ifs” in my ear. Like, you know, what if the absolute worst case scenario happened? But I eventually learned that even if what I considered to be the worst case scenario happened that God would work this out for my good because I love him with all my heart and I am doing what He has called me to do (Romans 8:28).  I have learned that by choosing to live in a close relationship with God that I am protected no matter what comes my way (Psalm 91:1). I have learned that if I keep my eyes on God and focus on Him that He handles everything else (Matthew 6:33). I have learned that when I am about to be in this battle against a huge army to not be discouraged or afraid because the battle is His and He will fight for me (2 Chronicles 20:15).

But if you should ask me how I do it, I would have to tell you that it begins with loving the Lord with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind.  There is nothing in my life that is more important than Him.  Now that part is generally easy.  When I do that, he helps me to overcome temptations. But loving my neighbor is sometimes the hard part. You see our neighbors aren’t always so lovable. Our neighbors are sometimes our enemies. But that’s okay, we are supposed to love them too and we are even supposed to love and pray for those that persecute us (Luke 6:28).

Now many of these things seem difficult to comprehend, much less do, but if you start with our scripture passage today and draw near to God, He will draw near to you (James 4:8).  If you love Him with all your heart, soul, and mind, He will help you with the rest.

Now maybe you like running around like a chicken with your head cut off or feeling like the sky is falling and if so, then just disregard this message. But, if you need some calm in your life, if you need some peace and some joy, then why not give it a try? Put God first, love Him with all you’ve got.  Make Him your number one priority. I promise you, you will not be sorry.

I won’t say that I never fear or never get upset, but I will say that those times are much fewer and far between than they used to be. I will also say that I quickly am able to realize that God’s got this and turn it over to Him. But in order to live this way, I had to give it all over to Him.  I have to love Him with all I have and I have to put Him first. This is how we do it.

Have a great day!