Consider This

Dear Faith Family,

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these, (Matthew 6:28-29).

How do I get anxious, let me count the ways!  To a new level we seem to have troubled our thoughts.  Rather than will we eat, we are overwhelmed with our options.  Rather than having clothes to wear, we can be overwhelmed with too many choices.  Or how will this outfit make me look to others? 

And if food and clothing don’t provide us with ample opportunities for anxiety to blossom, we are able to construct new opportunities daily.  According to capitaloneshopping.com, “There are over 350 million products for sale on Amazon.”  And that’s just Amazon!  Let’s say you need a new garden hose.  Suddenly you are inundated with choices of color, length, strength, flexibility, etc.  You just wanted a hose!  No wonder Jesus used the word anxious six times in ten verses! 

Let’s be real, our thoughts are often troubled, if not consumed, unnecessarily.  Right?  So, what do you do when anxiety pulls up a chair at your table?  Do you get busy enough to squelch the twisted music of anxiety?  Do you collapse in fear and despair?  Do you drown your troubled thoughts in liquid courage? Or maybe you grin and bear it, hoping that no one will see through the façade? 

Maybe it’s time to step away from the table?  Find a seat outside and look around.  This morning I noticed the orange and yellow lilies showin’ out next to the church sanctuary.  Nobody told them to bloom.  They’re just there doing their thing!  And what beauty to behold. 

Jesus’ care for us is on display in the shape and the color of lilies – a living sermon sac! Little blooms of His compassionate care for us. If He so intricately designs such short lived flowers don’t you think He will take care of you, His eternal children?!

Seek Him first,

Pastor Karl