We Get Distracted

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Matthew 6:25

 

 At some level we truly do know that God is in charge.  We can acknowledge that God has created all things, given us all we have, and ultimately has and will be good to us in the future.  I think we get that--at least at a head level.  But we still worry. We still have trouble trusting.  We still find ourselves fixated on the small things in life and pay too little attention to the big things.  Jesus' words speak to the human condition of anxiety. We wonder about our health, our financial future, and our relationships.  The world around us is constantly changing and life is incredibly fragile.  So we worry and fret for ourselves and our loved ones and sometimes we get stuck in worry and mired in anxiety.  How can we move beyond this?

 

Jesus reminds his audience about the birds in the air and lilies in the field.  God has provided for their needs and they are free to live a life without worry.  "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (6:26) The birds do not store up food for tomorrow but trust that God will provide.  They have this trust because each day they find food.  The old adage that the best predictor of the future is the past seems apropos.  We can trust God to meet our needs because God has met our needs.  God has provided for us in the past and will provide for us in the future.  We may not be able to predict or control exactly what that looks like (there is a deep connection between a need to control and anxiety) but we will be ok.  We need to remember each day what God has done for us.  We need to give thanks for the many gifts of grace and love we have received.  By remembering and giving thanks we prod our worrying and anxious hearts to trust.