As I look out our window at the birds flitting around from branch to branch and tree to tree, it occurs to me how profoundly true it is that they really don’t have a thought or a worry about how they’re going to be looked after tomorrow. Or even in the next hour for that matter. Like the lilies of the field, they’re not even capable of worry. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus tells us that we should be like that. Many scriptures in fact tell us not to “Fear not”, and not to worry.
So I wonder, why do I still worry? And I think God is trying to show me that it’s because I get too easily focused on the “where” of our journey, when the only thing that really matters is the “Who.” Who we’re travelling with, that is.
Because literally anything could happen tomorrow to any one of us. Circumstances in our lives, families, ministries, the world, could change. Good or bad feelings, attitudes and emotions may be experienced as part of that. But all of this kind of stuff is part of the “where”, which we have no way of controlling or knowing, but that God already does know.
This is why Abraham, by faith, was able to leave his country and everything that was familiar and seemingly predictable, and go “even though he did not know where he was going.” Heb 11:8
All he knew was Who he was going with, and that was enough.
Come to think of it, it’s not only lilies and sparrows and Abraham that reminds me of this, but our pets’ sheer unconditional love, devotion and trust toward us. If Jackie and/or I were in a room that our dogs had never been in, or a place completely unfamiliar to them, and someone opened the door, they would charge in like a herd of elephants not even thinking about where they were! Because all that matters to them is who they want to be with.
For us Christians, Jesus is actually already in our future. And not only is He our (future tense) destination, but our (present tense) travelling companion who is with us, for us, and in us. Forever! No wonder He tells us not to worry…He Himself is the only antidote.
Blessings, Bruce
