Luke 12:29–31

Luke 12:29-31 

English Standard Version 

  What are you going to chase?  

  God knows you need the basics.  I don't think this means that we can ignore those and they'll magically appear, but I do believe God works to ensure our needs are met. 

  So if your needs are met, what are you seeking?

 I'm not sure that we do a great job thinking about this question.  We get up every day and get after it, busying ourselves with pursuing various tasks.  But do we make time to think about what we're working towards, about what it is we want more than anything else?

  God's Kingdom is promised to us -- a place of fullness, of fulfillment, of hope and joy.  How do we set our hearts on that each morning, to let God fill us and let the Holy Spirit guide us?  It's so very hard to make it through the day with that first in our hearts.  There are so many distractions that will steal our attention and our energy.  

  Seek first the Kingdom.  If we can do that, our lives become so much richer.

Luke 12:25–28

Luke 12:25-28

English Standard Version 

  We never ask ourselves this question when we're worrying do we?  Can this worrying add a single hour to my life?  Jesus isn't afraid to ask it... he points out that if we can't even do that, then why spend so much time worrying?  A great question, Jesus.  Granted, when I get on the anxiety treadmill and start running full speed, I don't really have time to think about the reality that the worry isn't getting me anywhere.  God cares enough about the lilies, so maybe I should trust in God's provision for me!  

  I've been trying to breathe better.  When I get into a mental loop, I've been trying to stop and breathe deeply, allowing space for the Holy Spirit to remind me that this worry doesn't serve me.  It only makes me think that everything depends on me (reminder:  it doesn't).  I'm not keeping the world spinning by worrying.  That's God's job, and he's better at it than I am.

  So let us breathe, relax, and lean into trusting in God.

Luke 12:22–24

Luke 12:22-24

English Standard Version 

  Worry feels productive, right?  If we worry about every possible scenario, then when that situation happens, however unlikely it may be, we'll know what to do!

  A wise woman once told me that worry is negative prayer.  It's trying to wrest control of life away from God.  Rather than letting go of stressful things, it's holding onto them, believing that they're best in our own hands.  Worry is focusing on all the limitations, all the shortfalls, all the fears, rather than focusing our hearts on God's abundance, on his provision for us.  God cares for the ravens, so they have food to eat.  They still have to go and find it, but it's there.  The same is true for us -- God cares for us.  We still have to move, to work, to strive, but we are not forgotten by God.  

  So let your mind focus on the provision of God, rather than the things of fear.  When you're anxious and worried, find a Psalm.  Pray.  Hand that over to God, and let your times of anxiety be transformed into leaning into the Lord.

Luke 12:16–21

Luke 12:16-21 

English Standard Version 

  Can physical wealth provide ultimate security?

  Of course not.  It feels like it should... but only ultimate things can give ultimate security.  Only God can truly provide this.  This man believed that his wealth would give him peace.  It cannot do that.  

  Jesus isn't telling us not to plan.  I don't even think he's necessarily railing against wealth here.  He's opening our eyes to the lie that wealth is the only thing we need, and he's telling us that we're foolish if we don't first consider what it means to be rich towards God.  If our material wealth ends up well beyond what we had planned for, the opportunity is not to build bigger barns for the sake of having more, but rather to look outward.  If we have everything we need, then what does more provide?  Only the illusion of security.  When we cling to God, we don't pursue more for the sake of more.  We recognize that our blessings are opportunities to be stewards, to think of how blessings run through our hands and into the lives of others.  We are blessed to be a blessing unto others, and to remember that true wealth is found only in God.