Several of my Facebook friends seem quite anxious lately. I’m trying to remember if I had the same anxiety over the last four years when I felt our country’s political moorings had come untethered. I don’t think I held the same level of anxiety as those who are furiously posting and reposting against the current President and many of his administrative appointees.
Angles of attack change daily, it seems, as every step of our President draws fire. He is moving at incredible speeds to fulfill his promises to those who voted for him, I’ll give him that, but can everything he does be a bad thing?
I would like to challenge everyone right now—whether you are a fiscal liberal or conservative, whether you prefer your government large or small, whether you believe Federal-led or State-led education is best—take a breath today and know that God is the only one who is truly in charge. Life is too short to waste on anxiety and depression over things you cannot change!
Will things happen and people make choices you don’t like and don’t prefer? Of course they will. Will those choices kill you? Most of the time, they will not, and if one does, hopefully the death will be quick, right? Everyone’s gotta go at some point.
If you think that’s outrageous, consider this: it’s a main point of Ecclesiastes. “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Eccl. 1.2). Solomon does not mean life is empty or meaningless; he uses vanity in the sense of vapor, mist, or breath. He means our life passes quickly and is over. Life is a breath, so enjoy it while you can!
There is a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; and so on (Eccl. 3.1ff).
Solomon concludes that there is nothing better than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in your work (Eccl. 2.24). There is nothing better for man than to be joyful and to do good as long as we live; also, that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in our toil (Eccl. 3.12–13). There is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot (Eccl. 3.22).
You’ll never know or experience everything. You’ll not know the things your kids will experience when you are dead and gone. After you will come others who change the house you arranged, the land you tilled, the business you built. So why be anxious about these things? Why not enjoy what you have while you have it?
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity [a vapor].
Eccl. 11.9–10
If you find yourself anxious or angry or depressed over things that are happening out there in the world, perhaps you should put mainstream media away from you. Solomon wrote (by the Holy Spirit) to “remove vexation from you heart”! It is also translated “grief and anger” in the NASB. Get those things out of your life which are dragging you down. You don’t need that. If you desire to be in the know, find news sources which are calm and just lay out the facts. The sensational programs on many of the mainstream media outlets are designed to rile people up and get them gnashing teeth and tearing out hair. They are currently succeeding to the point of promoting actual violence, as angry men and women burn, key, and deface anything Tesla related, as if that does anything positive.
Look at your life. What has God given you? Food? Kids? A spouse? Friends? A church family? A relatively safe place to live? Clothing? Work to do? Rejoice while you have them! Give God thanks for His gifts. God will judge the madness around us—let Him deal with it. Most of what we are angry or anxious about won’t even touch us anyway, and if it does, we will deal with it as it comes with God’s help.
I will leave you with these wise words of Paul from his letter to the Philippians:
4.4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I’m going to go home now and enjoy my family 😊 Have a great day in the Lord!