Trust - don't worry

Matthew 6 : 25 - 34

Are you not much more valuable than they?

...your heavenly Father knows that you need.....seek first his kingdom and his righteousness....

I have been told and know quite well that by personality I am a 'worrier'. On the Myers Brigg personality inventory, I am a strong 'J', meaning that I am goal focused and seek closure about things. This is not a 'bad' characteristic in itself. As part of my unique personality, I am someone who can be depended upon to carry through my responsibilities. I am also someone who perseveres to see things through. That is my unique contribution to any endeavor. However, being goal focused also makes me prone to worry. Yes, I tend to live in the future (concerned about seeing things through) rather than in the present. And oftentimes, looking towards the future leads to what Jesus cautions against - worry.

I am sure Jesus is not proposing that we sit back and relax, growing idle and irresponsible. Appropriate effort and planning is not ruled out and is in fact necessary as part of God's mandate to human beings to cooperate with him in looking after what he has given us charge over.

But looking from the other side of Jesus' statement, where does trust in God lead us? We are all aware that many who have trusted God have lost their jobs, their finances, their children and even their lives. Even the birds and the lilies die during adverse climatic conditions. Tragedies and troubles do come to all, whether or not we trust in our loving Father and of course whether or not we are anxious about things. It is important to note that we cannot simply conclude that those who suffer 'lack faith' as proponents of the prosperity gospel would have us believe. Jesus must have known and experienced the limitation of his examples of our loving Father's provision. But his purpose is to invite us to embrace eternal values (seek first his kingdom and his righteousness), even as we deal with the inevitable pains of living in a fallen world. The fullness of God's provision will only be experienced in our eternal dwelling place, although we are blessed with many glimpses of it here and now..

In the meantime, it is important to demonstrate trust in our loving Father by not taking responsibility for what we cannot ultimately control anyway. God does have oversight of all areas of life.

For me this means doing my best in areas of responsibility but more importantly being open to what God wants to do, even and especially through my human inadequacies. All he asks is that I set my heart on what matters to him.