VIEW FROM THE MANSE 2.0

 

Have you ever had a dream that was laden with anxiety? I recently had a dream that a service which I was responsible for was a disaster. Everything was going wrong. It was a disaster. And it felt so real. I woke up with relief. None of what I had just dreamed had happened. But my mind was working on my worries while I slept. Maybe you have had similar dreams? An interview where you show up unprepared. A surprise test you didn’t know was happening. Sometimes these dreams are windows into our minds and hearts. They are revealing to us our anxieties. I was recently reminded of two quotes that I would like to think about together in light of this:

“If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate” Jim Berg

“Worry is praying to yourself.” Andrew Wilson

          In his book, A Heart Aflame for God, Matthew Bingham discusses our branch of the Christian tradition, the reformed branch, and the tools central to growing in Christlikeness in our tradition- reading the word, meditating on what you have read, and praying about what you have read. As you see, the Word of God is central. There is an old saying, “The Word does the work.” God the Father and God the Son have sent the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Scriptures and teach us of Christ.

          When we humbly read or listen to God’s Word, we are looking for his guidance, direction, and wisdom for our day to day lives. We cannot answer the question, “What Would Jesus Do?” if we do not know what Jesus did. And we learn what Jesus has done and what he calls us to do from his word.

          But reading the word is not enough. We must meditate on it. In Psalm 1, we are told that the happy or blessed are those who mediate on the law day and night. In Psalm 119, the Psalmist sings, “Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.”

          Each of us have worries. And we turn these worries over in our minds. We ruminate on them like a cow and its cud; turning them over and over, looking for solutions. In the quotes above, Dr. Berg is helping us see that we already know how to meditate. We do it all the time. But, frequently, we are meditating on everything going wrong around us. Andrew Wilson is pointing out that worry is meditation with ourselves at the center.

          So, to meditate on scripture would look like taking a truth (for ex. “The Lord is my shepherd”) and turning it over and over in your mind. You think about what that truth means for your daily life. How does being a shepherded person bring you hope? or courage? Or relieve you of fear? What does it mean that the LORD is your shepherd?

          And once this has begun to settle in your heart, it naturally takes the form of prayer. You talk to the Lord about the truths that he has impressed. You, in humble faith, cast your worries on him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). May God continue to grow each of us as we read, meditate on, and pray his Word.

          Bryan Fitzgerald, Pastor (bryan@argylepresbyterian.org)

 

           

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