The Christian Working Woman

What do you do when you need to be rescued?

We are precious to God. we are valued and valuable because he has placed his love on us. Some things are loved because they are valuable; some things are valuable because they are loved—and that’s you and me. We are valuable because God has placed his love on us.

I’ve pointed out two suggestions when you need your Heavenly Father to rescue you: First, embrace your worst fears, and then call on God to make his presence real to you as you walk through the deep waters. Here’s the final suggestion:

Give yourself to others.

Do not wait until you’ve conquered all your fears, until you’ve learned everything you need to know, until you have all the good feelings and confidence you need. That’s a huge mistake. Begin, at once, to find someone else who needs help and get involved in the lives of others.

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I (Isaiah 58:6-9)

This is God’s plan for rescuing us—from our fears, insecurities, anxiety, and ourselves. Reach out to the people God has put in your life, people who work with you, people who live near you, people who are far off and those whose lives are in desperate need. Find those people, become intentional about looking for them. Ask God to show you who they are and where they are and start doing anything and everything you can to set the oppressed free. You are precious to God and so are they.

Are you in need of a rescue today? When we think of an ideal father, we think of one who is protective and who would do anything to help you when you are in trouble. Well, our Heavenly Father is all that and more. I suggested that if you need help from God, for whatever reason, begin with embracing your worst fear and your deepest hurt. Get out of self-denial, and then:

Ask God to walk through it with you.

It is never too late to do that. More accurately, ask God to make you aware that he is walking with you through it, because he never leaves us or forsakes us.

But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaiah 43:1-3a)

Recently a friend was telling me of a fear she had just faced, a dreaded outcome she had imagined which had kept her from moving forward with God. But finally, she did what she knew God wanted her to do, stepping out in faith, and she said to me, “It was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be; in fact, it wasn’t bad at all.”

Is the enemy of your soul keeping you in bondage through fear of dreaded outcomes? It’s one of his most common tactics. The truth is your fear of a dreaded outcome is most probably unfounded. Your mind tends to blow the fear totally out of proportion and paralyze you.

God is going to walk through everything with you if you are his child through faith in Jesus Christ. You are never going to be alone, never ever! Do you think he’s going to let you drown in the water or burn up in the fire? No way! He’s there. He is sovereign over everything and everyone, and he loves you. You are precious to him.

I know the way we relate to our earthly fathers has a great influence on how we see God, our Heavenly Father. And you may not have had the kind of earthly father you wanted, needed, or deserved.

If that’s true, I simply want to assure you that your Heavenly Father is the perfect father. Everything you ever wanted or needed in a father you have in God, our Father. Romans 8:15 tells us: For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba Father.’ Abba is a term of endearment, like Papa or Daddy.

So, whether or not you had an earthly father that met your needs, your Heavenly Father says you are precious to him—valued, treasured, loved. And he rescues you when you cry to him. If you need to be rescued by God, here’s what I want to suggest:

First, embrace your worst fear, your deepest hurt.

Remember the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. Before he could be rescued from his dreadful life with the pigs, he had to embrace his worst fears and admit his terrible condition. What if his father totally rejected him? How embarrassing to crawl back and ask for a job as a hired hand. The people around would ridicule him, no doubt, and he must have feared being rejected by all the people in that town. He had to face all that, but it couldn’t be worse than where he was—starving and alone.

Many of our problems have been self-created because we try to avoid the pain of facing our fears and hurt. Can you identify with that? Maybe you’ve been finding all kinds of things to substitute, to try to mask the pain, and this can lead to addictions of all kinds.

Remember, you are precious to God, your Heavenly Father, and that means he desires to deliver you from whatever pit you may find yourself in.

Did you know you are precious to God? I remember some years ago a friend came to a Christmas concert at my church, and he had never been in a gospel-preaching church before. After the concert, his comment to me was: “I’ve never heard anyone use the word precious in a sermon.” That caught his attention.

Well, it’s clear from Scripture that we are precious to God—we are loved and valued and treasured. Look at Psalm 72:12-14 (NLV):

For He will take out of trouble the one in need when he cries for help, and the poor man who has no one to help. He will have loving-pity on the weak and those in need. He will save the lives of those in need. He will take them from the bad power that is held over them and from being hurt. Their blood will be of much worth in His eyes.

And Isaiah 43:4:

Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.

When was the last time someone said: “You are precious to me”—or at least some words that made you feel precious, loved, valued? Well, I want you to know if you are born from above and have received Christ as your Savior, you are precious to God.

What kind of relationship did you have or do you have with your earthly father? It’s true that the way our earthly father related to us has a strong effect on our relationship with our Heavenly Father. So,

The attributes and characteristics of our earthly fathers can become our measuring rod, comparison, or definition of what a father is. Hopefully you were blessed with a loving, caring father as I was, but for those who had distant or harsh fathers—or worse still, abusive or nowhere-to-be-found fathers—believing and accepting that you have a Heavenly Father who sees you as precious is not so easy to do. But let me assure you—it is true. You are precious to God.

The dictionary defines worry as “to feel uneasy or anxious; fret; torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts.” Did you ever realize when you worry, you are inflicting torment on yourself? Worry is self-inflicted suffering, and it never produces anything good.   

Jesus fully understood our propensity to worry, and he addressed it strongly in his Sermon on the Mount. From Matthew 6:25-34 we read: 

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.   

I remember when my pastor, Dr. Erwin Lutzer, spoke on this passage. It was such a blessing to me, I asked his permission to share some of his thoughts with you. In this sermon Jesus gave us three reasons not to worry. 

You Are a Child of God 

First, if you are born from above and have been redeemed through Jesus Christ, you should not worry because of who you are! Jesus said that God takes care of little birds, and even though they cannot take care of their need for food, he provides food for them. And Jesus asks, “Are you not more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26b).   

Well, are you more valuable to God than little birds? Surely the knowledge of how much God loves you, how deeply he cares for you should cause you to stop worrying. After all, your Heavenly Father is sovereign over everything and everyone in your life; he is always in control, and because we are his children, he has pledged to take care of our needs. So, that’s the first reason you should not worry. You are a child of God, and he never leaves you or forsakes you. 

In this crazy world many people are worried about their job security, or worse, about trying to find a new job because they are unemployed or underemployed. That’s certainly understandable; we all depend on our sources of income, and if they are threatened, our natural human response is worry! I’ve been in such situations, and I must confess I’ve worried.   

If you’re in this kind of worry mode, I simply want to remind you of what Jesus said:  …your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:32-33). Jesus was talking about the basics of life: what you eat, what you wear—the necessities of life. And Jesus said it is his responsibility to give those to us, when we seek first his kingdom. If God takes care of unemployed birds, don’t you know he’s committed to taking care of you? Sure, the birds must hunt for their worms and insects, but God provides it for them to find.   

Notice Jesus said we should not seek for our basic needs. Rather Jesus said we are to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. So, instead of praying that God will give you the material things you need—instead of worrying about how you’re going to get what you need or what you want—pray instead that your priorities will change.    

That’s what it means to seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness. It means you have your priorities in good shape. You invest your energies in doing what God wants you to do. According to Jesus, your goals and objectives in life should not be to make sure your needs are met. That’s God’s responsibility. God knows you need certain material things. He doesn’t condemn you for recognizing these basic needs and, like the birds of the air, you must do some work to have those needs met. But you don’t need to worry about it. You belong to God, and he has promised to care for you.  

Worrying Does No Good 

A second reason Jesus tells us not to worry is that it just simply does no good whatsoever. Jesus said, Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? (Luke 12:25). Worrying is totally worthless. It never produces any good results, but instead, it causes you to lose your peace, to lose your joy, to waste your energy.   

Do you know how much energy it takes to worry? You are spending lots of emotional and mental energy when you’re in worry mode—and has it ever done you one bit of good? No, of course not. Worrying is worthless! That’s a really good reason for any sensible person to refuse to worry. You know, most things you are worrying about never turn out as bad as you imagine. Just think back on what you worried about last month or last year? How many of those worries actually materialized? Worrying probably contributes to bad things happening; it certainly doesn’t prevent them from happening.  

Worrying Is a Poor Testimony to the World 

Then Jesus gives us another really strong reason not to worry. In Matthew 6:32 he says, For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Jesus is talking about material things, and he told his disciples that those who are not believers are always worrying about these things.    

Isn’t it true that most people around you are worrying these days? Just think about the conversations you have with people, particularly people who are not yet believers in Jesus Christ. You’ll observe that they worry a lot. So, if those of us who are disciples of Jesus Christ worry just like everyone else, what kind of testimony is that?    

If you are a real worrier, you can be sure people know it because you talk about it, it shows on your face and in your body language, and it’s not particularly attractive. Do an honest assessment of yourself: Are you prone to worry too much—and any worry is too much, according to Jesus. He told us not to worry. Worrying is evidence that you’re not trusting Jesus in a particular situation. And it’s not a good testimony to the difference Jesus makes in our lives.   

Have you ever thought about the fact that anything you are worrying about means you simply don’t trust God in that area? Can you see it as a slander on God’s character when you worry? Just imagine you’re a mom or dad with a six-year-old child, and because you love your child, you take care of her. She has always had plenty to eat, nice clothes to wear, a roof over her head, her health needs cared for, her safety provided—everything a parent should do, you have willingly and lovingly done for your child. Now, suppose every morning this same child gets up crying, despondent and worried. And every morning she comes to you and says, “What am I going to eat today? I’m worried about whether or not you’ll have food for me today. And what about my clothes? Will I have anything to wear today?”   

If your precious child did that, it would be offensive to you, would it not? How could she doubt you would continue to take care of her as you always have done? Why can’t she just trust you to do what is best for her? You always have, yet she simply doesn’t trust you.    

The example is rather ridiculous, since children don’t worry about those basic things—at least not if they are cared for as they should be. Yet, as children of God, isn’t that what we do to God when we worry about something? It must be offensive to him when he sees us worrying, because worry is always an indication that whatever we’re worrying about, we’re not trusting God for.   

Worry is totally worthless, but even more than that, worry is faithless! I just don’t think we often put worry into the category of sin, do we? We worry and worry and never think to apologize to God and repent of this sin of worrying. Paul wrote to the Romans that everything that does not come from faith is sin (Romans 14:23b). Well, for sure worrying does not come from faith. Faith and worry are like oil and water; they don’t mix. Therefore, continually worrying about anything is a sin.    

Maybe the first thing you need to do is to confess your worrying sins. What do you worry about most? Here are some common ones:  

What is on your list? I encourage you to stop right now and ask God to forgive you for anything you worry about and be specific. That’s a good first step in getting rid of worthless worries. 

It is essential for us to be physically and mentally still and to know the I AM of Scripture.

Now, let’s focus on the last of those eight words: Be still, and know that I am GOD.

Many of us, including Christians, are worshiping false gods. You say, “Not me, Mary. There are no idols in my house or my church.” Well, there may not be any idols of wood or stone, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t worshiping an idol.

Oh, how easy it is for us to forget who is God. This world system tells us that each of us as individuals is a god. Culture will encourage you to worship yourself and make yourself the most important person in the world. The business community believes our careers should be our god. Sometimes we allow another person to become a god in our lives. Often our dreams and desires become our gods.

We need a constant reminder of who is GOD. We need to frequently check the thrones of our hearts and see what has climbed up there to take first place.

Be still, and know that I am God.

Those eight words hold the secret for us as Christians—the secret for a victorious life, the secret for keeping our priorities in line, the secret for a balanced life, the secret for a life of peace and contentment, the secret for a life that blesses others and brings glory to God.

I want to challenge you, as I do myself, to take this verse seriously, and by God’s grace, start to implement it in your life. Start each day by consciously getting still before God. Quote the verse to yourself.

Ask yourself, “Am I really still?” Plan your still time and pray for the inner stillness you need so you can know God. Remember the I AM’s of Scripture. Write them down and read them often, to remind yourself of how totally sufficient God is for every need.

And then carefully keep a watch on the throne of your life to see who or what may be trying to become your god. It happens subtly, and we must constantly be on guard against it.

Will you Be still, and know that I am God?

Psalm 46:10 is a key principle in our Christian walk. If we don’t learn to be still, both physically and mentally, to learn the discipline of being still, we will never really know God in the way he intends for us to.

Be still, and know that I am…

Moses asked God what he would tell the children of Israel if they asked him, What is his name? God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:13-15).

I AM is God’s name. What does it mean to you? Here’s how I think of it. Fill in the missing word. “I need .” Whatever word you can put in that missing blank, Jesus can fill it in, because he is, I AM. He is our total need-satisfier. Just listen to a few of the I AM’s we find in Scripture:

Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:15). That’s my question for you. What is your understanding of I AM? Do you allow God to be to you all he is willing and capable of being? Is your missing blank today “I need a husband or a wife?” Isaiah 54:5 says: For your Maker is your husband. Is your missing blank “I need money?” Philippians 4:19 says: My God will meet all your needs…

Do you need healing of your body, your mind, or your emotio­ns? Jesus is the Lord who heals you. Are you lonely? I AM is with you always, able to take away your loneliness if you will learn to know that he is God. Are you hurting badly today because of a broken relationship or rejection or loss that you’ve suffered? I AM is there to comfort you and meet that need for you.

Until you take time to be still and know God, you won’t experience his all-sufficiency, the power of I AM to meet all your needs. Will you begin to be still and know the great I AM who is waiting to be gracious to you?

Let’s talk about the next challenge of these eight simple words, and that is to know that he is God.

Knowing something means we understand clearly and with certainty. Knowing implies understanding. Knowing requires training and education. Knowing doesn’t just happen. It is a result of a process, and it requires involvement on my part. Knowing develops confidence and trust. Knowing dispels doubt and fear.

To know God means we know that he alone is God, and we don’t look to other people or sources to meet our needs. Tell me, when you have a need, where do you go first for help? Do you first go to your bank account and trust in your money? Do you run to a friend or counselor to give you comfort and advice? Do you look to a job for security? Then if those fail, is that when you go to God?

When you know he is God, you run first to him for all your needs. You know God alone is your source, and while he may use other people to help you, he alone is your source. Lots of us are simply using God as our emergency escape hatch; when all else fails and we’ve exhausted all our sources, then we start praying, “Oh, God, please help me.”

Knowing God means you know he alone is God, and you learn to turn first and finally to him for all strength, help, confidence, and security. But you’ll never be able to do that if you don’t first learn to be still so you can know that he is God.

We need rock-solid confidence in our knowledge, and that comes as a process, a way of life. Let me ask you, do you know that he is God more today than yesterday? Do you trust God more this year than you did this time last year? Can you see a growth pattern in your knowledge and trust of God?

If your answer is not a definite yes, perhaps it’s because you haven’t yet made a commitment to be still—both bodily and mentally—and know God. That’s where it begins.

One of the more familiar verses of Scripture is: Be still, and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10). This verse is deceptively simple because it holds for us the real key to successful Christian living.

I noted that you must first get your body to be still—to find a time and place of stillness. But I can get up early, get my body into that still place, and discover that I’m still not still. Now the battle really begins for me. My mind starts moving a mile a minute. It’s easy to lose my concentration on the purpose of this still time. Even though my body is in the right place, I’m not still before God.

To be still before God, I must have that inner focus which centers on God and God alone. I need to come to the place where, for that time, he is my whole universe, and no extraneous or conflicting information is allowed to interfere.

How can I get to the place where I can be truly still before God, completely swallowed up with his presence and his reality, and nothing interferes with it? Frankly, I don’t think it’s easy for any of us, because our three enemies—the world, flesh, and devil—are out to break up this quiet inner stillness. A spiritual war can rage when we sit down to be still before God.

Here are some things I’ve found helpful. First, I begin by praying for inner concentration, claiming the blood of Christ as protection, and putting on the helmet of salvation to keep my mind from wandering.

Singing can also help me be still before the Lord, so at times I sing a hymn or chorus that focuses on God. Try keeping a pad nearby so when your mind starts thinking of things you need to do, you can quickly make a note of it and then return to your meditation time. And simply be prepared to stay with it, no matter how much your mind wanders. Just keep refocusing. Don’t give up.

So, this simple verse that tells us to Be still, and know that I am God requires some strong discipline on our part. We have to make a commitment to it and ask God to give us the strength to be still, both on the outside—stopping the perpetual motion and finding time to be alone with God—and on the inside, focusing our thoughts and minds on him alone.

I’m going to start a verse for you and see if you can finish it: Be still…

That’s it! Be still, and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10). This is a very familiar verse. You and I can recite it easily. But here’s a harder question: Do we practice it? What does it mean? How do we do it?

At first, it seems like a very simple, straight-forward message: Be still and know that I am God. But I have discovered it is not so easy to implement in my life, and I have a feeling many of you share that experience.

First, it’s not easy to simply be still, is it? We live in a world that seems to be in perpetual motion. Most of us have more to do than we ever get done. It is not in vogue to “be still.” Successful people aren’t viewed as people who are “still.” Rather, they are active. We have this idea that if we’re not doing something, we’re not being productive.

Those of us who are mothers remember how often we’d just give anything if our children would just be still! All that energy and constant movement! How many times have you taken your child’s shoulders, looked him or her in the eye, and said, “Please, BE STILL!” You feel as though you cannot get anywhere with them until they simply STOP.

Don’t you think God, our Father, says the same thing to us? “Be still. STOP!” Stop working, stop moving, stop talking, stop looking at your phone—just STOP!” The first hurdle we face is to get our bodies to be still, to literally stop moving, and for most of us that does not come easily.

I have learned I must plan still time in my day. It must be designated and given the highest priority. For me, it has to be early in my day, before my mind is cluttered, my concentration is divided, and my body is tired.

Are you having some difficulty learning to be still? I encourage you to take this verse seriously and don’t let the world shove you into its mold of constant motion. If you don’t learn to be still, you’ll never really be able to learn to know God like you want to.

But there’s more to being still than just stopping the body movement.