I am a recent college graduate without a full time job or
career path; sifting through the multiple options I have for graduate programs
as a former science major. All the while many doors have been presented and
have been shut on a daily basis. It would seem that I have a multitude of
things to worry and think about. I recently spent the last semester of my
college career questioning the degree path that I chose. Gratefully I exited
that time broken and humbled before my Savior realizing His great plan for my
life is for His glory and for my good. The "good" might be, for the
moment, a part time job with a college degree. The good might be continual
emails of rejection from jobs. The good might be the constant state of
indecisiveness I've experienced the past few years in trying to ascertain what
is next.
Now, while I know and understand God's good is far greater
than I can comprehend or imagine, a worldly mindset would see it otherwise. I
should be in a state of panic and worry as to what is to come. That I should
not be content with what is occurring in my life and career path. But, as I am
sitting here prepping for the camp I will be counseling at in less than a week,
the first lesson begins with the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, ending in
6:33-34:
"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. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."" (Matthew 6:33-34 ESV)
To fully understand what is going on here, we must realize
where He is coming from. Jesus is addressing the monetary and daily necessities
we need to sustain life. He just recently gave them two examples of how God takes
care of the birds of the air and adorns the fields with flowers, so why
wouldn't He do the same for us, considering we are of more value? (Matthew
6:25-32). Christ is addressing the anxious heart throughout this passage. He
confronts our vulnerability toward anxiety with the surety of God's gracious
provision. As we come to verse 33, He is calling us to seek His kingdom and
righteousness. That is our call and the Lord intends to bring us to a place of
reliance and assurance in our Savior. He
will provide for every need we have on this Earth to continue His work.
And then we come to verse 34 where He ends in calling us not
to be anxious. That we should not have worries about what lies ahead or
anything of the sort. That our anxieties of the future pale in comparison to
the Father who knows what lies ahead and has provision beyond our comprehension
laid out to meet our needs. This is what I come back to. This is where I stand
and hope and trust and wait. The God who calls me to seek Him and His kingdom
first, He will take care of me. That I am in my Father's sovereign and capable hands.
I am resolved to seek Him and trust in Him. This time of waiting is for a
reason. The good in being jobless (full time that is in my field of interest)
is that it is preparing me and teaching me full reliance upon our Savior. He is
teaching me how to wake up each day, not in anxiousness and fear of what's to
come, but in knowing and trusting that today and tomorrow is laid out by His
hand. That He holds the future and that tomorrow's anxieties will care for
themselves. Let us seek first His kingdom and pursue His righteousness, knowing
that He has and He will always carry us with full and complete assurance in His
gracious provision. Has He ever failed us? He cannot! (2 Tim 2:13) Though I
don't know what tomorrow or next month or next year holds, I know Who it is
that holds me and what better hands could there be than the Maker of this world?
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