Why should Christians not succumb to anxiety in a world full of uncertainties?

Paul Carrington highlights the struggle many face with anxiety, especially when pondering future uncertainties. As Christians, we have the assurance of a sovereign God who governs all things. The temptation to fret over the unknown can be overwhelming, yet we are called to place our trust in God. In Philippians, Paul urges believers to be anxious for nothing, encouraging them to cast their worries upon God, who will do wonderful things when we entrust Him with our hopes and fears.

While it's easy to become alarmed by the prosperity of evil around us, Carrington reminds us that God remains on His throne. Psalm 37 illustrates that the wicked, though they may flourish temporarily, ultimately fade away. This perspective encourages believers to not be disheartened by the seeming triumph of evil but to remain steadfast in trusting God. The transient nature of worldly power is evident throughout history; names and kingdoms once mighty are now forgotten. Yet, the enduring truth of God's sovereignty is a constant source of comfort and assurance for believers.

Psalm 37:8 (NKJV): "Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm."

I really love Psalm 37, do not fret, it only causes harm. And I think that's such a temptation for men and for women, I myself, you know, what will happen and you can just kind of get carried away with what if and what you know you're just very uncertain and unsteady about what the future would look like. So as Christians we have a sovereign God who really is ruling and so we were called to kind of rein in our anxiety to put our trust in God to hope in Him. Paul says it so beautifully when he talks in Philippians, where he tells them to be anxious for nothing. But then he tells them to take their anxiety and to place it in God.

And God will basically take that and do wonderful things, right, when we place our hope and our trust in Him. And so I would say when we look at the evil prospering all around us, sure, it gives us cause for great concern, maybe even alarm. We should be awake, we should be aware to the problems in our culture, in other words, just not putting our head in the sand, but at the same time recognizing that God is still on his throne. One of the most beautiful parts of Psalm 37 is when the psalmist, he says, I saw the wicked, he was spreading himself out like a great green bay tree. But then I looked for him and I could not find him.

In other words, the root, the stump, everything was removed and taken down. And you have to ask yourself, how many times has that happened in culture today? Where are the great men of the earth, their names over time, they just, they evaporate. They're just gone. One of the most, one of my favorite questions sometimes to ask is, who was the king during the time of Esther?

If you ask a hundred people, who was that king? A lot of people would just shrug and not know. But he reigned all the way from Ethiopia to India across 120 provinces. I mean, a massive, massive kingdom. But most people today, they don't recognize or remember his name.

But we have a book called the Book of Esther, and so we have great reason to just not fret, to trust in God, to lean upon him, derive our comfort from him, and to not pretend, but when we are anxious, to turn that into prayer, to turn that into seeking after God, turn that into seeking good counsel and putting our rest in him.