Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your prayer for safety and peace has been heard, and we thank you for bringing these cares before the Lord. The desire for a world without harm, without sickness or sorrow or troubling news, is a desire that God Himself has placed in the human heart, for He made us for wholeness and peace.
Yet Scripture does not teach us to expect that wholeness fully in this present age. The Lord Jesus Himself said that as in the days of Noah people were eating and drinking and living with a sense of luxury and security until the flood came suddenly, so it will be before His coming. The apostle Paul also warns that when people speak of peace and safety, sudden destruction comes. Christ spoke of tribulation before His appearing, not of unbroken ease. Wars and rumors of wars, sickness, death and distress are part of this fallen world until He makes all things new. To ask only for positive news and for no hardship at all would be to ask for what God has not promised to give us now, even though He has promised something far greater in the age to come.
This does not mean we live in constant fear, checking every report or every product with anxiety. The Scriptures teach us to be freed from that kind of crippling scrupulosity. We are to act with a clear conscience, with wisdom and thankfulness, asking no anxious question beyond what love and sound judgment require, and then to rest in God's providence. Earthly security is fragile in any case. Health and beauty and comfort do not last many years, disease and anxiety can wither them quickly, but the hope laid up in heaven is ever blooming and does not fade. Christ trains His disciples to cast out excessive care for food and fear of perils, not by promising that no peril will ever come, but by promising that He will be with us through it and that he who endures to the end will be saved. Like Moses who did not fear the wrath of the king but endured as seeing Him who is invisible, we are called to commit all to God and walk forward in faith.
So we will pray with you, but according to the wisdom of God and not only according to the wish for immediate ease. We pray that the Lord in His mercy would protect you and many others from harm, would give wisdom to those who oversee food and drink and travel and all workmanship, would restrain evil and bring peace where there is strife, and would heal where there is sickness and pain according to His will. We pray also that He would give you peace that does not depend on headlines, freedom from consuming anxiety, and strength to endure whatever trials He allows, trusting that He works even through hard providences for our good and for His glory. And we pray that your deepest hope would be set not on a life with no bad news in this world, but on the coming of Christ, when every tear will be wiped away and there will be no more death or pain.
Heavenly Father, have mercy on this one who has prayed and on all who suffer in this world. Guard us by Your providence, grant wisdom to those in authority, restrain violence and deceit, and provide for our daily needs. Give us hearts that trust You more than we fear trouble, and fix our hope on Your Son Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.
Yet Scripture does not teach us to expect that wholeness fully in this present age. The Lord Jesus Himself said that as in the days of Noah people were eating and drinking and living with a sense of luxury and security until the flood came suddenly, so it will be before His coming. The apostle Paul also warns that when people speak of peace and safety, sudden destruction comes. Christ spoke of tribulation before His appearing, not of unbroken ease. Wars and rumors of wars, sickness, death and distress are part of this fallen world until He makes all things new. To ask only for positive news and for no hardship at all would be to ask for what God has not promised to give us now, even though He has promised something far greater in the age to come.
This does not mean we live in constant fear, checking every report or every product with anxiety. The Scriptures teach us to be freed from that kind of crippling scrupulosity. We are to act with a clear conscience, with wisdom and thankfulness, asking no anxious question beyond what love and sound judgment require, and then to rest in God's providence. Earthly security is fragile in any case. Health and beauty and comfort do not last many years, disease and anxiety can wither them quickly, but the hope laid up in heaven is ever blooming and does not fade. Christ trains His disciples to cast out excessive care for food and fear of perils, not by promising that no peril will ever come, but by promising that He will be with us through it and that he who endures to the end will be saved. Like Moses who did not fear the wrath of the king but endured as seeing Him who is invisible, we are called to commit all to God and walk forward in faith.
So we will pray with you, but according to the wisdom of God and not only according to the wish for immediate ease. We pray that the Lord in His mercy would protect you and many others from harm, would give wisdom to those who oversee food and drink and travel and all workmanship, would restrain evil and bring peace where there is strife, and would heal where there is sickness and pain according to His will. We pray also that He would give you peace that does not depend on headlines, freedom from consuming anxiety, and strength to endure whatever trials He allows, trusting that He works even through hard providences for our good and for His glory. And we pray that your deepest hope would be set not on a life with no bad news in this world, but on the coming of Christ, when every tear will be wiped away and there will be no more death or pain.
Heavenly Father, have mercy on this one who has prayed and on all who suffer in this world. Guard us by Your providence, grant wisdom to those in authority, restrain violence and deceit, and provide for our daily needs. Give us hearts that trust You more than we fear trouble, and fix our hope on Your Son Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.
