Matthew 6 – Part 10 – GULPING AND LEAPING INTO THE UNKNOWN?
Last time I mentioned that I don’t have any paid employment at present. Moving to Sydney has been a step of faith. We have limited resources for the future. Our possessions fit into a garage. I am excited about what God has in store for us but have no idea how we are meant to survive long term. After all these years, we have seen the faithfulness of God as we have sought to put Him first in our lives and we know it was right to move here. So there’s peace.
But still at times I gulp and take another step. It’s not as if 54 year olds are the first choices in Churches in Sydney. So many Churches prefer someone much younger. Yet somewhere out there, there is a place for us, a Church that is just right for us, where God can use our accumulated experience and gifts to bless others and where our influence will see people respond to Christ.
“So today, I leave my tomorrow in Your hands, Lord.”
In Matthew 6:34 (NLT) Jesus says “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
A FEW QUESTIONS, LORD.
Does that mean I make no plans for tomorrow? That I just live from day to day? Does it mean that I just don’t care about planning for the future? Just concern myself with what happens today?
No. This passage allows me to PLAN for tomorrow, as long as I don’t WORRY about what tomorrow will bring. That’s in God’s hands. It means today’s plans for tomorrow are placed under His authority and I trust Him.
I bring up planning because at times I have met Christians, totally uncommitted to Church, and undisciplined in their lives. They live what comes across as reckless lives and say they are just letting go and letting God, but they have also let go of doing anything in their Christian life. They seem to just hang around and do what they want with very little effect upon anything or anyone when it comes to His kingdom and His righteousness and then move on to leave others to clean any aftermath in their wake.
“When I plan, let my plans come under Your authority, Lord.
It seems when I seek His kingdom and righteousness that other things in my life are cared for. So I don’t restrict my thinking or my planning to what I have in terms of resources I need to live. That’s too narrow a view. I seek to serve His purposes no matter what and He will supply for me. Now that takes faith, for me at least. I have to gulp and leap into the unknown.
But the scriptures make it clear. Matthew 6:25 (NLT) says “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?”
Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT) shouts at me “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
1 Peter 5:7 (NLT) sums it up like this “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”
God bless you Church as you cast all your cares upon Him because He cares for you (and feel free to plan but there’s no need to worry. A worry plan messes up your thinking. It hinders you from seeking first His kingdom (His absolute authority in your life) and His righteousness (right actions which come from a living relationship with Him).
Pastor Ross
