It's one thing to study a particular text and even to preach or teach it. It is something totally different to live it and embody its meaning in our daily lives. This last Sunday I taught on Matthew 6.24-34 where Jesus challenges his disciples and the "crowds" to not worry about their lives and their daily needs as they choose to serve Him and to seek the Kingdom of God above all things. He states,
6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate30 the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise 31 the other. You cannot serve God and money. 32
6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry 33 about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing? 6:26 Look at the birds in the sky: 34 They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds 35 them. Aren’t you more valuable 36 than they are? 6:27 And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life? 37 6:28 Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers 38 of the field grow; they do not work 39 or spin. 6:29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these! 6:30 And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, 40 which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, 41 won’t he clothe you even more, 42 you people of little faith? 6:31 So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 6:32 For the unconverted 43 pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 6:33 But above all pursue his kingdom 44 and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 6:34 So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own. 45
God reminded me of this text months ago as we started the process of discerning our future. It was humorous to me, when weeks ago Don our senior pastor asked me to preach and it ended up being this text God had drawn me to as an encouragement during this season of life. There have been times as I've prayed I sensed God in a significant way, asking me if I truly trusted in him to be our provider. Not in some naive manner where we would just have to sit back and not do anything. I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to get a job to meet the needs of our family. What he is calling us to is so much bigger than what I'm going to be doing for a pay check. Over the last few months we have experienced this invitation to trust him to be our sole provider as we step out in faith and seek his kingdom and his will for our lives. He's extended an invitation to live with Him and to walk with Him in a new way, to continue to come into a fuller understanding of what it means to live in the Way of Jesus.
God is gracious to us. I admit there are days when I ask myself what in the world am I thinking in starting this new organization and leading my family into unknown places. Who am I to think God wants to use us to pull something like this off. But, overall we are not plagued and in bondage to anxiety. I daily walk with a sense of God's gracious presence and peace that he is with us. Many people I've talked to have a difficult time understanding what exactly we're doing or where exactly we're headed in the months to come. I've come to a place where I don't expect people to understand, even my own parents. It's an abundant blessing to walk in faith. I look towards the horizon with hopeful expectation not worry, for today has enough for us to trust him with. Today he is taking care of and providing for the sea gulls down at the yacht harbor and the redwood trees in the hills surrounding Santa Cruz. He's also taking care of us.
*Above text of Mt 6.24-34 came from the NET Bible found at www.bible.org
