Set the Lord Before You

“I set the Lord ever before me...” 

Psalm 16:8

Life is hard. We have decisions to make, unpleasant people to face, challenges we don’t know how to overcome, situations that are beyond our scope of influence but directly affect us. How do we deal with all of this? How do we set the Lord ever before us? 

Saint Teresa of Avila, the Spanish Carmelite nun, wrote the famous poem, Nada Te Turbe. It goes: “ Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things pass away:

God never changes. Patience obtains all things. He who has God finds he lacks nothing; God alone suffices.” How enviable if we truly are able to let nothing disturb our peace! 

This is precisely what God teaches in the Bible. Saint Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians from a Roman prison. He did not know whether or not he would be killed, but this is what he said: “Always be full of joy in the Lord...Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 

Do not be disturbed. Do not be anxious. This is the temperament of one who has the Lord in his mind, heart, and spirit. To have a transformed life, we first need to transform the way we think. Instead of conforming to the world’s way of thinking, we need to think of ourselves the way God thinks. We need to aggressively believe in what God says and promises.