Let not your hearts be troubled and trust in the Lord.
Among the most common things that can freeze us in place and make us inflexible and rigid are fear and anxiety. Anxiety is itself a fear of a future that is not yet manifest. In a sense anxiety is worrying about worries or fears that aren’t yet present. So I guess I really could narrow my proposed list to one, fear.
In scripture, Jesus cautions us about anxiety and worrying about the future. Matthew 6: “34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Jesus notes that we cannot add one moment to life by worrying about it and he assures us that God is constantly aware of all our needs in life. In Matthew Chapter 6 he reminds us that God provides for all of creation including the birds and the lilies.
It is easy to give into worries and to become immobilized by the fear. The saints of the church have faced opposition and antagonism in many generations and in many places. Sometimes the saints of the church have even inflicted pain upon each other. When seen from outside the church this willingness to inflict pain on others has caused many non believers to question why would one want to be part of a broken mess like that. That sentiment is often heard when one invites someone to church and receives the response, “Why would I want to go be with that bunch of hypocrites?”
Whether we are experiencing the anticipation of fear brought onto us by others or that we have inflicted upon each other God has another idea, a better idea for us. Instead of remaining frozen in fear, instead of being frozen by things that are beyond our control God calls us instead to focus outside of ourselves and our fears and to pursue the kingdom of God. Matthew 6: 33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
In other words, God calls us to let go of our excessive focus on our internal fears and what might or can happen to us or to me and to instead commit ourselves to living a life that reflects the values of God and God’s kingdom; to live as one who is right with God and knows that being right with God is bigger than all things whether we know what that will be in the present or not.
What Jesus is saying to his followers is, “Shake off those shards of clay that hold you captive and live like you believe that God will provide." It is to live like the Israelites in the wilderness gathering only enough food for the immediate needs because one knows and trusts that God’s Word is sufficient for tomorrow whatever that is.
Wait a minute you say. Have you seen all of the ways in which the world destroys lives and how people suffer and how people die? Did you see the children with bellies distended by malnutrition. How can Jesus or anyone say that God provides and protects everyone when it is so obvious he doesn’t? What about politicians who encourage us to self sufficiency because the only way anyone can be sure and secure is to do it for themselves? "Is" the answer isolationism and self interest? What does it mean to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness?
Great question what suggestions do you have? What do you see in God’s word that moves us from broken saints to healing sinners?
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