matthew 6:26
Careless in the care of God — Even To Death I can’t help but picture myself standing on the edge of a cliff, my back turned to the endless chasm below, my heels teetering over the edge. I spread my arms, close my eyes, and let myself fall backward. Peaceful, knowing I’m safe. Content with what I have. Careless in the care of God. “Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.” By following their natural instincts that God placed in them from the beginning, and by not struggling for power in their relationship, or worshipping anything other than their Creator, birds are blissfully careless as they work. But that’s not how things are for us human beings. No one has been completely careless since Adam and his bride screwed everything up for the rest of us. We toil for our basic needs. We worry about what people will think of us, or if we’ll get that promotion. We experience anxiety and stress. We struggle for power and pleasure in our relationships. We freak …Read more
Five years ago I found myself looking for another ministry job. For the previous 13 years it was all Iʼd known. I just left my fifth church and had nowhere to go. Interviewing for another music position, I would use index cards to write information about each church I spoke with. I would file through them and review. I was asked all kinds of questions. “How do you feel about fundamentalists?” “Whatʼs your position on eschatology?” The questions began to wear away any front that Iʼd built up. I started to answer with the information they were really after. I would be asked if I liked choirs. I would reply with something like “if youʼre asking whether I can conduct a choir, the answer is ʻyes, and I can do it very well.ʼ If youʼre asking whether I enjoy conducting choirs, the answer is ʻno.ʼ ” This didnʼt go over too well with many of the search teams. I wondered if there was something wrong with me. Maybe I was broken. Why couldnʼt I just play the “search committee game” anymore? Time was short. I needed to find a new place to work. We had decided to move closer to …Read more
I am so excited to have Chris Morris here today as a guest…He is currently writing a book about living with chronic illness and his writing/story-telling is an inspiration, and motivation for many…make sure and show him some love in the comments as well as go visit his site…you will not be disappointed… Next week I will start back with the regular workings of Careless in the Care of God and we will be discussing Boundaries, how to recognize when your boundaries are being crossed, how to set boundaries with those in your life, and how to enforce the boundaries that you set… We are 40% funded for “Change in Perspective” bags…click here to see how you can help give hope, and permission to dream for the future to patients receiving chemotherapy…the campaign is open until Nov 24th… “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable …Read more
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Matthew 6:25-26, NIV When I saw that April was looking for guest posters to speak/blog/write/ramble about Matthew 6:25-26, I was excited. I hate the term “life verse” – but if I had one, that would be it. (We, and I am definitely using the royal “we” here, are going to refer to those verses as one verse through the course of this post because, hey, artistic license. Also, I’m lazy, and I’ve already made the same typo 4 times. I’m tired of fixing it.) I have clung to this verse in some very dark places. I have held on to it, white-knuckled with fear, through some very long nights. There are nights yet to come that I am sure will be just as dark – and that verse will be there, …Read more
