Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

I ran into a good friend of mine and in greeting her, said, How are you doing? She responded not good! I asked her what was going on.  She hadn’t slept well for days and could not stop thinking about a dreaded situation she needed to handle! The more she thought about it, the greater that dread became until she was anxious, overwhelmed, and feeling sick about it. I don’t know what to do were her words as tears welled up in her eyes. I told her, Dread isn’t from God and you can’t let it fester in you! You’re becoming anxious, overwhelmed, and sick about something that hasn’t even happened, and that may never happen! You’re worrying about something you think might happen in the future—imagining all its worst possibilities or outcomes. If you allow it to continue to overwhelm your thoughts with dread, it will become like an insidious cloud that seeps into every corners of your mind, until it chokes out all of your peace, confidence, and  joy. 

So let me ask you today! What do you do when you feel that sense of dread concerning something ahead in your life? Remember that things we dread never happen, or at least not in the dreadful way we were imagining! Psalm 53:5 NIV says, “There they were, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to dread!”  Why was God saying this? Because He was there for them the entire time!

Dreaded situations are seldom as hard to handle as our mind imagines. Many times we wind up realizing we wasted emotional time, much needed sleep, and our joy and peace over something that did not end up happening—at least like we feared it would!

When those times of dread come, remember this: God’s word is called quick and powerful! It is because the power of it when its read and believed, can be like a pin popping an inflated balloon or a foot crushing a bug.  1 Peter 5:7 NLT is an example of that saying, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.” And, Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT2) “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.”

When God’s promises are meditated on and trusted, they pull us out of the deep hole of anxious thinking and instead help us refocus on God’s love and promises to us! Let the initial cares and worries you feel be nothing more than an alarm that wakes you up and reminds you to cast your cares unto the Lord. Let them be the alarm bell to put all of your faith and trust in His love for you and promises to you! Purpose to shut down those dreaded thoughts and immediately turn your thoughts into faith-filled prayers for His help that you lay at Jesus’ feet. Do so and you’ll have learned to eliminate the worries and dread from your head!

Philippians 4:8 (NIV) “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”

In His love,
Pastor Tim Burt

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Published by Pastor Tim Burt
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