How bothered are you right now? How upset, torn up, worried and overwhelmed do life’s circumstances have you?
And why is it we feel almost obligated to appear miserable when we’re going through these hard things? Like it’s wrong to be okay when things aren’t okay. We can’t be happy when the reality isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, so we put on our hardships like the fit of the day and wear it around.
But let me tell you something, the Spirit of God living within you equips you to be UNBOTHERED. You don’t have to wake up feeling all sorts of ways. Your thoughts don’t have to be plagued with replays of that hurt and offense. You don’t have to be continually burdened by the things that have hurt you. Everything doesn’t have to bother you … you can be in the middle of the storm and be filled with peace, settled in complete assurance, and held steady by the hand that never changes. That’s unbothered.
Isaiah 41:10, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”
It’s easy to read that and think, “Ahhh, that’s a nice verse in our Bible”. Or maybe you even repost that because someone might need to hear it. But what about YOU – are you receiving that as God intended? God is speaking to you. He knows exactly what you’re going through. He knows the hurt. He knows the threat. He knows your worried thoughts and your unsettled heart.
Now, he’s showing up personally for you this morning and says, “My girl, don’t be afraid of this, I am right here with you. Don’t be discouraged over this, I am your God.”
When he reminds you he is your God, he reminds you nothing else is more powerful than him. Nothing can stop him, nothing can block him, nothing can cancel him. He is your God, and he is God over everything concerning you. He is God over your problem. He is God over your family. Nothing is above him and nothing is out of his reach. He is God in this.
And the God who holds supreme power and authority in this has a promise for you. Here’s his promise: “I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will hold you up with my hand of victory.”
Do you believe that? Will you receive that? Isaiah 41:10 is for you. Will you let that get down into your troubled heart as the truth? Will you let that calm the raging thoughts in your mind that have done nothing but replay the hurt and stir the offense? Will you let those worried thoughts be calmed by the hush of God that says, “Peace, be still now.”
Unbothered. It’s a chosen state of peace, even when there’s plenty of things to be bothered over.
Unbothered. It’s precisely what Jesus felt in the storm on a boat. Do you remember the story?
Mark 4: 35-40:
“As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.’ So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind. But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.”
Okay, stop right there. Have you ever been on a boat where the waves are bigger than the boat? Have you ever been that tossed by the storm? Have you ever watched a boat be filled with water? Imagine that terror for a moment. Now, imagine it’s at night and you don’t have flashlights. The oil lamps aren’t helping you here. You have no 300 horse power Suzuki to get you out of this. You’re in this storm at the worst possible time. Wouldn’t you be afraid? Wouldn’t you be bothered?
Verse 38, “Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion.” Y’all, this is Jesus completely unbothered.