Casting Worries to the Wind

“God blesses those who realize their need for God; for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs” (Matthew 5:3)

You may be familiar with the story in Matthew 14 where Jesus miraculously feeds five thousand men and their families with only five loaves of bread and two fish – talk about God creating endless provision out of way less than enough! This miracle of compassion was done on the Mount of Beatitudes in Galilee, another destination me and my dad got to visit on our Israel adventure!

View from the Mount of Beatitudes looking out on the Sea of Galilee

It was also on this mountain that Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount in the book of Matthew in chapters 5-7. On the second day of our trip, we actually got to climb a little ways up this mountain, eat lunch, and sit and listen to a message on this very sermon! The speaker gave us an opportunity to sit in silence and read the scripture ourselves, and it was a powerful moment of reflection. I focused in on Matthew 6:25-27:

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? ²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?”

Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

Answering this question honestly, I can say worrying only takes away precious moments of my life because it takes my eyes off the Author of it.

As the speaker that day preached, “we want the kingdom, but sometimes we don’t want the King,” I was hit with a wave of conviction:

How often I want the goodness of God, but not God Himself. How often I try to control my own life while ignoring the One who is sovereign over it all.

How often I allow the hurt and bitterness in my life take up all the space in my heart meant for the compassion, love, and mercy of God.

How often I want what I think God should give me rather than the Giver who is more than I’ll ever want or need.

How often I let my own kingdom and agenda usurp God’s and I end up missing out on true meaning and purpose.

The list could go on for me, and I’m sure you could make your own personalized PowerPoint of worry lists that leave God and His Kingdom out of the picture.

When we worry about all these things – food, clothes, reputation, money, status, careers, relationship status, conflicts, and a past full of wounds hard to ignore – we bypass the opportunity to step into our created purpose by bringing our worries to the King who can handle them, and then continue bringing His kingdom to Earth through what we say and do.

I know, it’s easier said than done. But that’s why it’s not on us or our abilities. Jesus has already shouldered the burden of all we can’t do when He died on the cross by defeating everything that stood against us, and He will keep doing it through us as we keep waking up and saying yes to Him every day.

Sea of Galilee

The crowd Jesus spoke to on the Mount of Beatitudes was full of people like you and me – broken, hurting, and wondering when things would finally take a turn for the good in their unique set of circumstances. And like them, we need to follow Jesus wherever He goes – even up a mountain – and soak up His presence and His Word that can set us free to live fully right where we are with a Heavenly viewpoint, even if it isn’t’ where we thought we would be.

The crowd Jesus spoke to that day didn’t know what was around the corner for their lives, but right in front of them was the Creator and Redeemer speaking hope into their tired souls.

Our Savior is not only right in front of us speaking truth to our hurting hearts, He is behind, beside, and WITHIN us reminding us of the reality that no matter what happened in the past or what awaits us in the unknown, He will never stop sustaining and carrying us every step of the way.

God is the God of the desert and the rain; the storm and the sunshine; the tragedy and the joy; the mysteries and the answers. He is the God of the beginning, middle, and end; more than that, He is directing it all in ways far better than our own.

And although it’s sometimes beyond our understanding, His intentions toward us are never to destroy or punish us, but to point us to peace and purpose incomparible to the pain we’re experiencing.

Like Matthew 5:3 says, let’s find the blessing in realizing our need for God every day that allows us to rest in the “not knowing” times because we know and claim the heavenly storehouse of blessings, authority, and rights we have as daughters and sons of God.

He is always for us, never against us, and we can live in that reality today.

Dee

My journaling notes from the message we heard that day

Me and my Dad on the shore of the Sea of Galilee