“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Mt 6:31-33 AV)
Very well-known verses and very easy to understand. There is no mystery here. The issue comes when we try to live by it. The needs of this life are consistent. We need food. We need water. And we need shelter. These three things every living organism needs. Breathable air and other such needs are provided, for the most part, freely and we do not have to gather them. But food, water, and shelter are something we search for ourselves and take efforts to provide for them. When watching a survival show like Bear Grylls, he will tell you the first three things you need to find are shelter, water, and food. In that order. These needs present themselves every day and multiple times in the day. Jesus tells us not to obsess about them. It is not that we give no forethought to them at all. Otherwise, we would not bother to go to work. We would sit in the wilderness and wait for the manna to drop. We are to labor to the best of our abilities to meet the needs we have and not create more needs than we can handle. But there are times when needs are beyond our control. Lisa and I have learned this lesson a know we will have to continue to learn this lesson. The key to freedom from worry is the middle phrase. Our Father knows that we have need of all these things. He knows what we need and what we truly need. He knows something we do not know. He knows for a certainty what the future holds and what part our present needs play in what our future will be. Knowing that God knows makes all the difference in the world. It is the letting go that is the issue.
Last night, my wife and I watched a YouTube video of the 15 most terrifying attractions. Some of them were rollercoaster rides, but some of them were trails carved into the side of cliffs barely two feet wide. Several of them were glass bridges. That is my wife’s biggest fear. We have a small aquarium here in Milwaukee and it has this very small glass bridge that goes over a shallow pool with none lethal fish swimming underneath. The water is shallow enough to stand in without drowning. But she is terrified of walking across that bridge. The bridge is probably only about twenty feet long and the glass is about six inches thick and framed out in solid steel. The steel frame has enough width to it that if you were afraid of the glass, all you have to do is hug the railing and place your feet on the metal frame. No big deal. Watching this video last night took that experience and multiplied it by a million. There is a bridge suspended seven hundred feet above a ravine. The glass consisted of three two-inch panels and the framework in which it is set is not nearly as generous as our aquarium. The video shows people trying to cross the bridge and fear so overwhelms them, they are shaking, crying, and often falling to their knees frozen in their frame. To make it extra terrifying, the Chinese government hires people to go the length of the bridge with sledgehammers and start a crack. When the weight of the pedestrian rests on the glass, it breaks in all directions. Not to worry. It is a very thin top panel that does this. People were literally jumping on the handrail and finishing the trek without placing their feet on the glass. The engineers have all the math down. There is nothing unsafe about crossing that bridge. Even if the top layer is cracked. Trusting those who know more than we do is a hard thing to do.
Worry is our middle name. Life takes faith. We live by faith without even knowing it. When our faith is disrupted, we lose it. Just look at the run on toilet paper that happened a few years back. If our needs cannot be guaranteed while accepting things a little by faith, we panic. Jesus tells us not to obsess about that which we have little control over. The very basics of life God will provide if we let Him. It is better we concentrate on faith and holiness leaving the rest of it with God. He will provide if we learn to obey and trust. What a concept. Easy to understand. Hard to live.
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