No need to worry

We usually think that “we cannot foresee our future.” The statistics says that 80% of Japanese worries about their future. There are so many worries, such as “will I get sick? , will I receive enough pension? , will there be any danger?” How should we deal with them?

Kenji Igarashi, the founder of a cleaning company called “Hakuyo Sha”, had invented the method of washing clothes without using water, the dry cleaning. He had spent many hours in his laboratory, conducting many trials of his research, yet could not come up with the result which was desirable. Soon, he became ill, and was in large debts. Being buried under a big pile of invoices to be paid for, a new year was just around the corner.

At that time, his wife advised him to read the Bible. She showed the verses were spoken by Christ at the mountain top.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matt. 6:33 -34, NKJV)”

“For the last 2 months, I was only thinking about the dry cleaning, from morning until night.” Being as a Christian, he finally realized that his only concern was the dry cleaning, not praying or leaning to God. He said to his wife. “Thank you for your advice. I was wrong. I should have put Him first. If I do that, all my needs would be fulfilled.” Then, he gave the prayer of thanksgiving together with his wife. Soon, he was filled with His peace.

After that, both of them went to visit his investors one by one. He had explained the situation, apologized, and paid some small amount of money back to them. He was expected to be scolded at. However, it was opposite. No one was angry at him, but instead, they encouraged him. Two of them were able to spend their new year in peace. Through these difficulties, he has achieved his current success.

We worry about things, even being told “not to worry.” Yet the Bible promises us that God knows our needs, and all needs will be provided when we believe in, trust, and seek Him. He cares your life. May His blessing be poured onto you and your life.

Youth Pastor Kenshiro Goto

Realizing your limit is the time of knowing unlimited God

The founder of Richo Company, Kiyoshi Ichimura once said “trying to live- there is a limitation, being allowed to live- it is unlimited.” There is a similarity in the world of the Bible. In other words, when we feel there is a limitation in our lives, we get disappointed and depressed. But God who watches over us, allows us to experience His unlimited power, as we realize there is a limitation within us.

Peter who was one of Christ’s 12 disciples, used to be a fisherman. Later in his life, he became a leader, but until he met Christ, he never had any interest in faith or the Bible. Rather, he was interested in catching fish. How was such a man changed, and became a man who accomplished so much, by just meeting and believing in Christ? Let me tell you what had happened to him.

One night, he fished all night long, yet caught nothing. May be the same thing had happened to him before. While he was fishing, Christ was preaching to a mass, teaching valuable lesson. Peter was not interested in His teaching, and mending his fish nets with great disappointment. Christ walked to him after His teaching, and told him to “put out the boat into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch”. Peter was annoyed. “No way, a professional fisherman like I am that fished all night, but couldn’t catch anything. A son of a carpenter like you, what do you know?” That was his thought. He might also want to embarrass Him. “OK, as you say. Let me throw the nets to see what would happen.” That was how he thought. As he tried, he found the largest catch of his life. Another boat came to help, but the catch was so large that both boats almost sank. Then, Peter realized that how small, how poor, and how helpless he was, at the same time, he realized the unlimited power of Christ.

Now, you may be experiencing failure and disappointment. You may be trying with every knowledge and experiences you have had, yet you may be realizing that your efforts have limitation. If so, it is not the time of the ending, but it is a chance for you to experience the unlimited power of God. I urge you to seek for Him.

Pastor, Masao Nakanishi

In any circumstances

I got cold the other day. My throat hurt, and I had a stuffy nose and a headache. But, one day, I noticed I got recovered when I was driving a car. Though I wasn’t aware of it for a while, I felt happy that I was cured. When we are fine, it seems natural, and we care nothing about it. But when we get ill, we find it thankful to be able to stay healthy.

When we think about this, we live under a blessed circumstance each other. However, we work busily so we forget and miss it. Sometimes we compare with others and complain that someone is more blessed. When we are sick, we pray eagerly. But when we are healed, we easily forget to give thanks and behave as if nothing had happened.

Let me introduce Job. The Bible shows he believed in God and was a righteous man. But he experienced the worst sufferings in history. Though he was rich, he lost all of his children and his wealth in one day! If I were he, I’d surely get upset and vent my spleen on others. Did he behave like me? No, he didn’t. Instead of complaining to God, he said the following. ”Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21)

The reason he didn’t get depressed when he faced such a tragedy was because he knew the following truths. “Man was born with nothing. It isn’t natural to think we have a family and property by nature. All what I had was things I had been given. I was just in charge of them temporarily.”

It’s also true for us. All what we had was not things we got by our own strength. Everything we had was things God had given us! Even the income we thought we earned by ourselves was one we gained because God had given us a job and good health!

If we think so, we can be thankful for just staying healthy. Yes, it isn’t a matter of course. There are lots of things we can thank for. We have a family and friends. We can go to school or work. We can enjoy meals and are protected from dangerous accidents.

When our perspective is changed, we feel satisfied. We can rejoice in any circumstances. Stop crying for the moon and give thanks to God for what He has given us.

Youth Pastor Kenshiro Goto