Matthew 6:31-33, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
WORRY, WORRY, WORRY
We all have worries; we all have concerns for the future. Uncertainty is the killer. It is the one thing that we, as humans, have the most trouble dealing with. Some of us are more risk-averse than others, but we all hate uncertainty.
Most of us save for retirement. If we have children, we save for education and weddings. If we are prudent savers, we have savings for household emergencies, vacations, and medical problems. We are concerned about our health, our jobs, and our loved ones. As humans, we are constantly trying to look into the future to anticipate uncertainty.
It is tough for us to put our futures in the hands of the One who created us; the same entity that predestined our future. Yet, he is the same superpower that sees all things, knows all things, and loves us unconditionally.
John 14:1, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.”
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs tells us that we need these things: Physiological, Safety, Love and Being, Esteem, and Self-Actualization. First, we needed to take care of our physical being with air, food, and water; then, we needed to protect ourselves from danger, including clothes, sleep, and warmth. After we are feed and safe, we turn to love and being loved, including friendship, intimacy, and acceptance by others. Only then did we care about our emotional well-being. Only then do we care about growing as a person and improving ourselves. The lower-level needs, when unmet, prove to be dissatisfiers; in that, we satisfy them to avoid unpleasantness. The higher-level needs stem from a desire to grow and become more. Some people can become unbalanced in that their hierarchy changes order; for example, someone may need esteem more than love. There are many cases where some cultures put much more weight on the higher levels over the lower levels. For example, they would sacrifice food and safety to be seen as valuable or improve their social position. Whatever the case, when life becomes uncertain, we struggle.
When we don’t know where the next meal will come from or have a safe place to sleep, life becomes stressful. In first-world nations, we seldom worry about existence levels of food and safety and worry more about our positional existence. We worry about our place in society, how nutritious our food is, how good our neighborhood is, and how secure our job is. Many a marriage has broken up because one party or the other wasn’t pulling their weight, providing for the basic level needs of the other; physiological and safety trumps love.
Luke 12:22b-23, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.”
Interestingly, most people are more concerned about what other people think of them than what they feel about themselves; their self-view is a derivative of their worldview. They need to sense that they are valued by others more than it is to have personal growth. Only when they are secure in their view of how others see them, do they turn to personal growth. True satisfaction in life can only begin once we believe we are valuable and start to grow as a person.
HOW DO WE FLIP THE SCRIPT?
Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
I’m not much of a prosperity gospel kind of guy. I’m a guy who believes that God sometimes gets involved with tough love. Faith that our prayers will be answered is more about seeing God’s results than obtaining our results. Sometimes the outcome of prayer is not what we ask for but what we need. And as my dad might say, “sometimes that is a swift kick in the pants.” I believe certainty comes from knowing that God has your best interest in mind, not from getting everything you think you need.
Matthew 13:22, “The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.”
I get caught in this trap; I tell God exactly what I need to solve the problem the way I see it. Fortunately, God’s view is much greater than my view. Most of the time, the immediate crisis has long-term implications that I cannot begin to understand. So I try to remember that there is a ripple effect through eternity in all things.
Luke 12:24, “Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!”
Flipping the script on uncertainty is not believing that God loves you; it is knowing that He does. Overcoming uncertainty is knowing that it is only uncertain to you, not God. The book “When Helping Hurts” talks about rescuing someone relieves a temporary situation but robs the person of valuable skills needed to survive long term. Helping a person use their available resources to help themselves, builds the person up and creates confidence to survive. Sometimes we want to be rescued when what we need is to be helped.
EVERYDAY MIRACLES
My comfort does not rest so much in believing as it does in knowing. How the problem will be solved is not as important as knowing that God will solve it; in His time and in His way. I will see the solution only if I know that He always answers prayer. I have seen and experienced miracles disguised as everyday activities. I have seen problems solved by people finding things they thought were long lost. I’ve seen and heard of overdue promotions and pay raises coming when the person needed it most. I know people who got a short-term gig when they were unemployed, that got them through until they found a permanent job. I had seen disenfranchised family members come together when the need arose; I have seen fear erased with a hug, a kind word, or a knowing glance. I have seen broken hearts mended by a new puppy. None of this looked like manna from heaven; it wasn’t the parting of the Red Sea. But, all of this, by the grace of God, is answered prayer.
1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The One who fears is not made perfect in love.”
The cure for uncertainty is not having a crystal ball that shows us the future; it is living with the knowledge that God cares. God is not capricious or arbitrary; He is constant, unchangeable, and passionately in love with you.