Scripture
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:31-34
Observation
Jesus has just spent time talking about the spiritual practices of prayer, fasting, and giving. Then, with a prophetic laser like focus He makes it clear why I don’t grow in intimacy with God. I don’t trust Him. Not really. When I pray does He really hear me because I haven’t seen the answer yet. When I fast will he really provide what my family and our need for food? Has He seen the prices on groceries these days? When I’m asked to give to others what if I don’t have enough to provide for my rent, clothes, etc. What if the economy heads into recession? I have no peace today because I’m worried about tomorrow. Jesus makes it clear that if we seek the Kingdom of God first, He will take care of everything else that dominates my thoughts.
Application
In other words, what’s first determines what’s next. What has my attention has my affection. I’m laughing this morning because I was doing some self assessment with The Holy Spirit and realized that everything Jesus is addressing in today’s scripture is what I was worried about yesterday. I’m not joking when I say that I was fasting and praying while driving home from a Chaplains meeting in San Diego yesterday. As I was doing my best to not think about my stomach that was grumbling a taco truck with pictures of delicious tacos pulled in front of me. Now, instead of thinking about Jesus and His provision for me all I could think about was tacos and how much I wanted to eat them. Then, I had the thought about tacos not being in the budget especially with the wedding coming up and wanting to be ready to help Aden and Rachel with that. Then, the thoughts of how my boys and their wives will even be able to afford to stay here in California began to bring anguish to my heart. Then, I thought about all of the families I’ve talked to lately that have moved or are planning on moving out of California because they’ve been priced out of paradise and I was even more grieved. Then, questions like, “God, why would you call us to a place and a people where we can’t even afford to live?” Can you see the spiral of worry and fear here? It all started with tacos. Fasting, praying, giving, are spiritual disciplines that call my mind, will, and emotions back into alignment with the care and provision of my Heavenly Father! Tithing and offering isn’t about a financial transaction, but a spiritual transformation that makes sure I’m storing up treasures in Heaven and serving the right Master here on earth. Don’t lay up treasures where moth and rust destroy, but lay up your treasure in heaven, right? What’s in heaven? Relationships. Our relationships are the only things we are taking with us. So, why does money dominate my thoughts? The truth is the poorest 5% of Americans are richer then 68% of the world’s inhabitants more than a billion people around the world now living on less than $1 per day. We are the 1% of the global economy. The journey of generosity is one step at a time and it starts with where God was asking me to give yesterday. So, I offered hot dogs to some strangers at the beach and we ended up getting to pray with them! Prayer isn’t about checking some spiritual checklist. If The Father already knows what I need before I ask it, why do I need to pray? He wants to have a relationship with me and wants to talk it through. Pray doesn’t change God, it changes me. Fasting isn’t about saying no to tacos as much as it is saying no to entitlement that dominates my thoughts so often. I live in a culture of entitlement. The world owes me. God owes me. No, God owns me. I can trust Him and His heart for me. As it turns out, I’m not the center of the universe. God is the center and the owner and the caregiver and has everything I need.
Prayer
I fix my thoughts on You Lord. One step at time living out of Your economy of generosity rather then my economy of scarcity and self-serving. I’m so thankful for where we live and the people I get to share life with. I have everything I need because I have You. I pray that when my mind wants to go down the rabbit trails of worry I would take Your command to heart and pray, Our Father who is in Heaven, Holy is Your Name.
