June News

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Matthew 6:25-26
I have become disgusted with the news media lately, especially the news magazine television shows. It is my opinion that their main purpose is to make us feel paranoid about yet one more thing. We are told that the hospitals may switch our babies or perform the wrong surgery. We hear that service people who come to our homes overcharge us and sit around eating lunch instead of fixing our furnace. We read that other people are going to cheat us or manipulate us or take advantage of us in every way possible. YIKES! It makes one think about building a fortress around our homes and families and never going out again. However, as Christians we are called to live in the world. While these things do happen to people, they do not happen to many people. We waste so much time worrying about what may happen that we miss the blessings that God gives us each day.
This summer I will be taking a group of youth to my favorite place, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Every time I prepare for a trip to the BWCAW, I worry. I worry about the weather, having enough equipment, finding campsites, medical emergencies that may happen, the youth getting along, etc., etc., etc. I could say that my worrying helps me to be prepared, but I could probably be prepared without worry because I have experience. When I get to the BWCAW, something interesting happens, I stop worrying. Somehow the peace and beauty of the lake country helps me to know that we are in God’s hands, and whatever comes our way, God will be with us. God has given me the experience to be prepared and the wisdom to act safely. With trust in God, I can enjoy the beauty that is set before me – the beauty of the natural world and the beauty of the young people on the trip. If I continued to worry, I could not enjoy the gifts that God has given me.
In the scripture above, from the teaching material in the Gospel of Matthew called the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tries to help his followers to understand that God will provide for them each day and God will help them get through whatever each day brings. This does not mean that we won’t face struggles, or that we shouldn’t be prepared, but simply that worry keeps us from knowing and appreciating God’s blessings that are with us each day. Jesus asks us to live trusting that God is with us and active in the world.