Good morning…
As the upper school chaplain and the middle school wrestling coach at The Lovett School, a day school for kids from kindergarten through twelfth grade, my husband takes turns writing weekly devotional messages with his two chaplain colleagues. Steve’s words of wisdom for this week help us to consider, “What are we to do when worry pulls us apart at the seams?”
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Weekly Devotional for October 18th, 2021 by Rev. Steve Allen
Erwin McManus, author, filmmaker, fashion designer and pastor stated the following in a TedTalk, “the thing that makes us uniquely human is that we possess a gift that allows us to create a future that does not yet exist.” He may be right, but I believe that along with that gift comes perhaps the other thing that makes us human, the capacity to worry about a future that does not yet exist.
Pretty much every day when I ask students, friends or colleagues how they’re doing, the answer is often some variation on a theme that includes stress, anxiety and worry. What are we worried about? Concerns about a future that does not yet exist – grades, college, friendships, bills, finances, our kids, our parents, our health. Sometimes we can’t even identify what we’re worried about; we just live with an overwhelming sense of stress, anxiety and worry about the unknown. Perhaps you can identify with that feeling. I know I can.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that no matter how hard I try, telling people not to worry just doesn’t seem to work. I can’t even convince myself to stop worrying. Which leaves us in a bit of a quandary with regards to this week’s text. Some of Jesus’ most famous words, from his most famous sermon (on the Mount) tell us not to worry. “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… And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? Therefore do not worry (Matthew 6:25-33). Was Jesus not aware that simply telling people not to worry – isn’t gonna cut it?
Perhaps, and yet this is one of those times when a little knowledge of the original text might be able to shed some light on what Jesus was trying to say in this message. The Greek word here is one that doesn’t just mean worry – it means to be pulled in opposite directions. It means to be distracted and restless. It means to be disquieted within our soul. Jesus isn’t just saying – don’t do that. What he was saying was, when you feel restless – when you feel as though you are being pulled apart at the seams – when you are distracted and disquieted within your spirit – Seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). In fact, the entire passage can only be understood with this final part of the text in mind. When you are worried – seek God. When you feel disquieted in your spirit – take time to quiet yourself in God’s presence. When you feel pulled apart – let God pull you back together. When you feel distracted by the cares and concerns of your life, recenter yourself on God’s care and concern for you. While we can never get rid of the things that worry us completely, when we remember to put God’s perspective first, perhaps we’ll be able to see our everyday human concerns from a different perspective.
This week, if and when you feel those most human of emotions we call worry, stress and anxiety, I invite you to take time to rest in God’s presence. When we do that – when we seek first the kingdom of God – then and only then, all these other things that are pulling us apart, disquieting and distracting us, will take their proper place in our daily lives.
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Exploring the text a bit further, the Message translation puts flesh on the bones of this Scripture in a down to earth way. Verses thirty through thirty-three read: “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.”
When we find ourselves worrying, our thoughts pulled in opposite directions, might we focus our attention on this single question?
“What gift is God giving me right now?”
…Sue…
