How are you? I admit I am struggling, tired and don’t really want to do anything. But God! This process we call YadaFactor helps to press in and stand firm despite the emotional struggle that tempts toward anxiety and even worse, complacency, thus avoiding time with God.
But even then, God loves, so I press in to get a message to you as he reminds me to…
“Consider the Lilies.” Matthew 6:25-34
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin…but if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” … But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself…
According to Webster’s, “consider” means to reflect on; to think, believe, or suppose. The thesaurus offers even more insight: contemplate, deal with, examine.
So, I am wrestling with myself and God to stand in what is true, despite thoughts and feelings in this strange time of worldwide pause and panic.
Maybe it’s time for a walk to think about a simple lily? How God is caring even now for such a small, insignificant thing, a flower. If this is true of lilies then how much truer is God’s concern for you and me? Hannah Hurnard calls this loving care “a passionate, absorbed interest.” Let that soak in like the sun to revive our soul now and in the days ahead.
Let’s walk…
So, wherever you find yourself today mentally, emotionally, physically or spiritually, consider this: God’s divine love for you is inexhaustible. Loved, as we are right now through God’s eyes, is our truest identity. He is caring for us even more than the lilies. Let’s keep walking.
