Police Devotional
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7).
God commands us to “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23). God also provided ways in His Word for us to keep our hearts. One way is to hide God’s Word in your heart: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Psalm 119:11). Another is to pray to God from the heart about things that trouble you, including the things you see on the job.
Do you ever wonder why, for instance, drug dealers get rich, or drunk drivers kill innocent people and walk away unhurt, or child molesters do awful things to kids? You could probably think of other horrible events that you’ve dealt with. Do you ever want to ask God why He lets things happen as He does?
The prophet Jeremiah felt that way. He once told God, “Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?” (Jeremiah 12:1). He later said to God, “I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation. Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?” Obviously Jeremiah was having a lot of problems and was troubled to see wicked people doing well while he struggled.
It seems almost irreverent for Jeremiah to talk to God as he did. In truth, though, he was doing exactly what God wants people to do when they’re troubled by some problem in their lives—pray from the heart. Psalm 62:8 says, “…pour out your heart before him:,” and Jeremiah did exactly that.
Our verse says, “Be careful for nothing;…”. “Careful” means “anxious”. So don’t be anxious about problems, but bring them to God with “supplication,” which has the idea of humility, earnestness, and “thanksgiving”. Be thankful because God promised that if we would come to Him like that, He would give us a peace that “passeth all understanding,” to “keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” God wants to give you peace in your heart in spite of problems. This is one way that He does it.
Some people may accuse God of being cruel for letting things happen, but in truth, God doesn’t owe anyone any explanations: “…he giveth not account of any of his matters.” (Job 33:13). We know He cares about us, though, because He gave His only-begotten Son to die on the cross. He couldn’t show His love for us any better than that. So when you see things that trouble you, do what Jeremiah did. Come to the Lord in prayer. Recognize that He is God and that He’s righteous, but also tell Him in detail what’s bothering you, and He has promised that His peace will keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus.
Before anything else, though, you need to come to Christ as a sinner who needs to be forgiven and saved. If you’ve never done that but want to know more, please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org and click, “How do I go to Heaven?” on the sidebar of this page.
Brian Miller 1/14/2015
Cleveland Baptist Church 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 216/671-2822