Thoughts from Matthew 6

"So do not worry about tomorrow...."

These words of Christ have developed a deeper meaning over the last couple of months. Money and basic provisions come to mind of course when we think about this verse. And certainly, those are some of the issues that Jesus is talking about. With a CA house payment still in our life we've naturally given thought to our "financial future." But I'm not sure we've worried..... at least not yet :-) Why? Well, I'm not a seminary graduate (yet :-), but my little computer Bible software tells me that the word for "tomorrow" is actually the word for "next day" (yes, I'm laughing), the literal 24-hour period after NOW. I know, nothing fancy. But why, I wonder, is there such consumption with planning for the future? I'm not sure I've found a good way to articulate these thoughts because I certainly have no problem in planning for retirement, planning for a vacation, etc. But I'm afraid that sometimes I was/am being pushed to plan for things that I was never intended to plan for. We so want to SEE the safety nets in our lives just in case "this main pillar" gives way. It seemed my physical eyes had better vision than my spiritual eyes. How clear is my vision of God and His sufficiency and promises?

Once in this process of the last few months I asked God for 10 million dollars. That way we could just come to PA, live off the interest (no I didn't do a lot of calculations; 10 million just seemed like a good, round number) and do all the ministry we felt God was calling us to do. Then God seemed to say, "Geoff, why are you aiming so low? You know I've got way more than 10 mil. Why do you need to SEE it in your bank account? Isn't it enough for you to know that I know what you need and that I, the timeless God, can just liquidate and transfer in a moment? Come on man, you know Me better than that!" To which I replied, "Yeah God, I know, I was just seein'....." :-) Then I sensed God asking, "Geoff, do you have enough provision for the next month?" "Yes," I said. "How about the next week?" "Yes." "Well," I sensed God saying, "then why are you worrying about months and years from now when you have at least 7 'tomorrows' before you THINK you're in 'trouble.' If you're good for TODAY (and you are), just live on and enjoy today's provision to it's fullest. For beyond today, just be brave (though it's really not that scary) and trust Me. The word is faith. It's the spiritual proof of things you can't physically see, things that are more real than what you can SEE, and you can't make me happy without it (Hebrews 11:6), so walk on.......in FAITH!"

(Selah)

As I said, this lesson applied to more areas than just money for us. The certainty of an income-producing job was absent until just recently (I could actually make a case that none of us have a certainty for an income-producing job tomorrow but I think you understand my point). But again, did that really matter if the thing that was certain above all else was that God was directing us (a key pre-requisite to stepping out) to leave Grace Church and come to Northeastern PA? What is more solid and true than the Word of Almighty God? Nothing of course, and certainly not a job. So again I was confronted with God saying, "Geoff, do you trust the desires I've given you? (Psalm 37:4) You tell people all the time that's your life's guiding principle. Is it really?"

So, we were blessed with an opportunity to exercise and express our faith; a chance to prove God right and to see Him shine. By the way, that's one of my favorite definitions of being glorified - "to be proven right," especially in a case of intense doubt and questioning.

So, tomorrow, retirement, insurance, security, investments, etc........ How do they all fit? There's a balance to be sure. We're just learning the trust lesson on the faith side of the scale. Or maybe we've been learning it well enough to "give it a go." I hope so. Either way, we are blessed and are poised to see God really proven right. THAT is good times.

Thanks for reading.

"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?" - Matthew 6:26

I (Geoff) took this picture of a Black-capped Chickadee (yes, I have a bird book and yes, I'm really getting into bird-watching) out our front window the other day. We have feeders on the windows and PA is gleefully packed with a variety of beautiful "birds of the air."

The picture at the top of this post was taken by BayLynn in my parents back yard. Quite an artistic eye she has, eh? The cross was a gift to my parents from my Aunt and Uncle in Wheaton (see "Sunday in Wheaton" here). The picture carries the theme of this post from Mathew 6:28-30:
"And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!"