그냥 구하라!(JUST ASK!)

💙 그냥 구하라!

 ✝  빌립보서 4:4 - 4:7 

“너희가 얻지 못함은 구하지 아니하기 때문이요”[야고보서 4:2]

환희에 찬 고함소리가 지하실에 있는 아내 셜리에게서 터져 나왔습니다. 몇 시간 동안 뉴스레터 과제를 붙들고 있던 아내는 거의 마무리 단계에 있었지만 어떻게 끝내야 할지 모르는 불안감과 불확실 속에서 하나님께 도와달라고 기도했습니다. 그녀는 페이스북을 통해 친구들에게도 도움을 요청했는데, 얼마 안 되어 과제는 팀워크에 의해 완료되었습니다.

뉴스레터 과제는 인생에서 작은 일이지만, 작은(그리고 그렇게 작지 않은) 일들이 걱정이나 불안을 가져올 수 있습니다. 처음 자녀를 양육하는 부모나 새로운 학업의 어려움에 직면한 학생, 사랑하는 사람을 잃고 슬퍼하는 사람, 가정이나 직장, 사역에서 어려움을 겪는 사람 등, 우리는 하나님께 도움을 구하지 않기에 불필요하게 걱정할 때가 있습니다(야고보서 4:2).

바울은 당시의 빌립보 성도들에게, 그리고 우리들에게 도움이 필요할 때 우선적으로 무엇을 해야 할지 가르쳐주었습니다. “아무것도 염려하지 말고 다만 모든 일에 기도와 간구로, 너희 구할 것을 감사함으로 하나님께 아뢰라” (빌립보서 4:6). 
삶이 복잡해질 때 우리는 찬송가 “죄짐 맡은 우리 구주”에 나오는 이 가사를 기억할 필요가 있습니다. “주께 고함 없는 고로 복을 얻지 못하네 사람들이 어찌하여 아뢸 줄을 모를까.”
그리고 하나님께 도움을 구할 때 하나님은 어쩌면 우리를 도와줄 수 있는 사람들에게 우리를 인도해 주실것입니다.

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기도로 하나님께 나아가야 하는 어려운 상황이 있습니까? 
하나님과 다른 사람들에게 도움을 구하지 못하고 주저하는 이유는 무엇일까요?

<하나님 아버지, 저의 짐들을 기도로 하나님 앞에 가져오지 못한 것을 용서하소서. 다른 사람들에게도 다가가 도움을 구할 수 있게 하소서.>

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[빌립보서 4:4 - 4:7]
4. ○주 안에서 항상 기뻐하라 내가 다시 말하노니 기뻐하라
5. 너희 관용을 모든 사람에게 알게 하라 주께서 가까우시니라
6. 아무 것도 염려하지 말고 다만 모든 일에 기도와 간구로, 너희 구할 것을 감사함으로 하나님께 아뢰라
7. 그리하면 모든 지각에 뛰어난 하나님의 평강이 그리스도 예수 안에서 너희 마음과 생각을 지키시리라

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💙 JUST ASK!

 ✝  Philippians 4:4 - 4:7 

“ You do not have because you do not ask God. “[ JAMES 4:2 ]

The gleeful shouts arising from our basement came from my wife, Shirley. For hours she’d wrestled with a  newsletter project, and she was ready to be done with it. In her anxiety and uncertainty about how to move forward, she prayed for God’s help. She also reached out to Facebook friends and soon the project was completed—a team effort.

While a newsletter project is a little thing in life, small (and not so small) things can bring about worry or  anxiousness. Perhaps you’re a parent walking through the stages of childrearing for the first time; a student facing newfound academic challenges; a person grieving the loss of a loved one; or someone experiencing a home, work, or ministry challenge. Sometimes we’re needlessly on edge because we don’t ask God for help (JAMES 4:2).

Paul pointed the followers of Jesus in Philippi and us to our first line of defense in times of need: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”  (PHILIPPIANS 4:6). When life gets complicated, we need reminders like the one from the hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”: “Oh what peace we often forfeit, / oh what needless pain we bear, / all because we do not carry, / everything to God in prayer.”
And perhaps in our asking God for help, He’ll lead us to ask people who can assist us. 
-ARTHUR JACKSON

What situations challenge you that you can bring to God in prayer? Why do you hesitate to ask Him or others for  help?

Father, forgive me for not bringing my burdens to you in prayer.
Help me to reach out to others and ask for help too.

4. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
5. Let your forbearing [spirit] be known to all men. The Lord is near.
6. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus