All in God's Good Time 11-15-09

So what is the first emotion you experience when you think about money? Your answer may very depending on whether or not you have enough of it to pay your bills. But surveys of people across the economic spectrum seem to indicate that those people who are inclined to worry about money do so, whether or not they have it. Even so, in the current economic climate, when all we seem to hear about is money and wealth and the financial markets and the economy it's hard not to wonder and worry. When pink slips are still the order of the day and it's not uncommon to have 500 or more applicants for any job opening, having enough money is a source of anxiety, isn't it?

So what do we do with the wisdom of Jesus that says: "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. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?"

Is Jesus really telling us not to worry about the basic necessities of life? There are, after all, people who don't have them. Is it really possible to find peace in the midst of financial storms and economic chaos? What is Jesus saying here and how do we apply it to our lives? Perhaps it has something to do with focus; where we put our attention; what we count as the main thing, the most important thing, the first thing. Perhaps it also has something to do with trusting God enough to allow God to open our eyes, our ears, our minds and our hearts and then daring to follow God's simple wisdom and quiet guidance.

I remember a time several years ago when my friend Yolanda was having a very difficult time financially. I didn't realize just how bad things were until she told me this story:

I was literally down to my last $5. I had managed to pay all the monthly bills, but it was still several weeks until my next paycheck. I had a little food in the pantry, but not enough to make it for two weeks, not even if I spent the $5 on more food. Well, I happened to be at a meeting where someone was selling raffle tickets to support a shelter for battered women. I looked in my billfold to confirm what I already knew, took a deep breath and thought, "this $5 is not going to make any difference to me and it might help a woman get free and stay free." So I bought a ticket. Now the funny thing is that I had no idea what the raffle prize was. It didn't matter, I never win raffles anyway. I just buy a ticket if I believe in the cause the raffle supports. Not only did I believe in this cause, I felt a very deep nudge to buy a ticket.

Well, anyway, a few days after I bought the ticket, I received a phone call from the women who sold me the ticket. "You won," she said. "You won the grand prize in the raffle. You won $200 in grocery gift cards."

I could hardly believe my ears -$200 in grocery gift cards- that will feed me for more than two months. It will most definitely help take the pressure off. It amazes me how God always seems to provide exactly what I need. Sometimes I'd like there to be a little more than exactly what I need. But I'm just so grateful that help always seems to come, if I just trust God and follow those nudges.

Not long ago I was talking with someone whose husband has been unemployed for many months. She was talking about how their experience has deepened their faith and readjusted their priorities. "It's amazing," she said, "how God always seems to provide exactly what we need. Sometimes it's just a matter of opening our eyes to what's been here all along. We have an apple tree in our yard. Until this past year we never thought much about it. Oh, we might eat one of the apples every now and then, but most of the time, the apples just fell off the tree and rotted on the ground. Not any more. I've learned what a true blessing that Apple Tree is. Do you know how many different dishes you can make with apples? We don't waste a single apple now. We know each and every one is a gift from God. It is amazing, we feel like God is walking with us through it all. So we pray and try to stay open, thanking God for the abundance we do have instead of worrying about what we don't have. My husband's better at it than I am. But I'm learning to trust God. I just try to stay focused on what God wants me to do in each and every moment and leave the worrying to God."

That's it isn't it: "stay focused on what God wants us to do in each moment and leave the worrying to God," or as The Message translation says it:

"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.

³⁴"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."

When serving God and living in openness to God's love become the focus of our lives; when that's what occupies our attention, we find the peace Christ came and comes to bring. When we live with gratitude for what we do have, we see the many ways in which our lives are blessed, we are set free to become instruments of God's blessing for the world and we discover the joy Christ came and comes to bring. When we put our whole lives in God's care, allow God to open our hearts, our hands and our minds and seek God's guidance in what we do and how we spend our time and our money, and trust that all things work together for good in God's own time and God's own way, we will discover the abundant life Christ came and comes to bring. May it be so! Amen.