Before I formally begin this letter, I want you to know that this letter was initially going to be intended to be for one individual in particular, but I now believe that many people may benefit from reading this. For the recipient of these thoughts, I want you to know that your story amazes me. For now, I know that you are stressed, you miss your family, and that you are hating your job. Just hang in there, persistence is a fruit of the spirit. Don't lose heart either, your passion brightens this world everywhere you go. I trust that God will continue to do great things through you. Just keep your eyes on Him and remember that He has your good in mind.
When I was stressed out the other day, you sent me these verses, so I'm going to remind you of them.
Philippians 4:6-7
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 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.
Several times throughout the bible we are reminded that Jesus' yoke is light, he has freed us from the heavy burden of the Law of the Old Testament. Furthermore, he has promised us peace. This peace is a gift, just like everything else that Jesus offers us. It is not by any means something that we have to earn. Why then, do so many of us live lives void of this peace? The fact of the matter is that we indeed live hectic lives. I believe that this is because we try to take control of things that are not our responsibility.
In such a fast paced society of universalism and the "self-made man", we've all entered in what I would like to call a rat race. Hang in with me for a moment. Imagine a rat in cage. Have you ever seen one of those little metal wheels that we as people have invented and placed into the cage? This enables the rat to run all day if it wants to. It can run its little heart out. But here's the sad part... no matter how long or hard that little guy runs, it will never make it out of the cage. I think we as people have successfully invented our own little metal wheels, hopped up on them and started to run.
We all live these fast paced lives and in the midst of all of our efforts we forget that this running won't get us anywhere. We forget that God is truly in control of every aspect of our lives and has our good in mind. Rather than continuing to run ourselves out, we are instructed to lift our voices to the One who can truly have an impact on our lives. There are a lot of things in life that we don't understand. We face various struggles daily. It should come as no surprise that we get stressed when we aren't looking at God.
Today as you're going about your day, I know that you have a lot on your mind. You're considering double majoring in school, which is no small feat. You're missing your family and you long to have them close. You're stressed and the fact that you are spending time in a job that you don't like is not making things easier. But take heart, the God of the universe has his eyes on you. You are his beloved. Even though you can't make sense of all of this right now, he is orchestrating this all for your benefit.
All of these things are seem daunting right now, but I can promise you that they are not concerns in the eyes of the Father. He knows that this looks like a mountain to you, but what may seem like a mountain in our eyes certainly does not appear this way to God. He'll never give you something that, partnered with Him, you can't overcome. I challenge you to fix your eyes on him and let go of all of these things that are weighing you down in order to embrace Him.
His yoke is light.
In Him is where you'll find peace.
From your friend,
Jake
Philippians 4:6-7
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 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.
Several times throughout the bible we are reminded that Jesus' yoke is light, he has freed us from the heavy burden of the Law of the Old Testament. Furthermore, he has promised us peace. This peace is a gift, just like everything else that Jesus offers us. It is not by any means something that we have to earn. Why then, do so many of us live lives void of this peace? The fact of the matter is that we indeed live hectic lives. I believe that this is because we try to take control of things that are not our responsibility.
In such a fast paced society of universalism and the "self-made man", we've all entered in what I would like to call a rat race. Hang in with me for a moment. Imagine a rat in cage. Have you ever seen one of those little metal wheels that we as people have invented and placed into the cage? This enables the rat to run all day if it wants to. It can run its little heart out. But here's the sad part... no matter how long or hard that little guy runs, it will never make it out of the cage. I think we as people have successfully invented our own little metal wheels, hopped up on them and started to run.
We all live these fast paced lives and in the midst of all of our efforts we forget that this running won't get us anywhere. We forget that God is truly in control of every aspect of our lives and has our good in mind. Rather than continuing to run ourselves out, we are instructed to lift our voices to the One who can truly have an impact on our lives. There are a lot of things in life that we don't understand. We face various struggles daily. It should come as no surprise that we get stressed when we aren't looking at God.
Today as you're going about your day, I know that you have a lot on your mind. You're considering double majoring in school, which is no small feat. You're missing your family and you long to have them close. You're stressed and the fact that you are spending time in a job that you don't like is not making things easier. But take heart, the God of the universe has his eyes on you. You are his beloved. Even though you can't make sense of all of this right now, he is orchestrating this all for your benefit.
All of these things are seem daunting right now, but I can promise you that they are not concerns in the eyes of the Father. He knows that this looks like a mountain to you, but what may seem like a mountain in our eyes certainly does not appear this way to God. He'll never give you something that, partnered with Him, you can't overcome. I challenge you to fix your eyes on him and let go of all of these things that are weighing you down in order to embrace Him.
His yoke is light.
In Him is where you'll find peace.
From your friend,
Jake
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