With all we worry about, the thing that we should worry about the most is God's kingdom. Why should we do that? We have enough to deal with in our life. Why in the world would we be concerned about God's kingdom and his righteousness? The answer: God is up to something in our uncertainty.
I'll explain that in about 3 minutes, but let's make sure we understand what Jesus is saying. In times of uncertainty, seek; don't worry. In times of uncertainty, when you don't know how it's going to work out and you feel like you need to take all your resources, energy, time and focus in on yourself and your needs, seek first God's kingdom. That seems so counter intuitive, doesn't it? But Jesus encourages us to look around and ask the question: in the midst of my uncertainty, what can I do to further God's kingdom, not mine?
SEEK AND YOU SHALL...
Do you know what it means to seek the kingdom of God? It simply means to seek God's agenda. For us it means saying, "God, I know what worries me. What worries you? God, I know what concerns me. What concerns you? Tell me, God, and I will focus my attention there and I will let you deal with all the silly things I tend to worry about." That is what he is saying.
Why would Jesus mention this? Because when we seek first his kingdom, there is a grace that is available to all of us in our uncertainty. When we say, "God, instead of lying in bed at night and worrying about my stuff, I'm going to seek your kingdom first." In those moments when tension is rising and the anxiety of the future is rising, take a breath and say, "In this moment I want to seek your kingdom and I will trust you to give me what I need. I will trust that you know what needs to be happening in my life.
Someone asks, "Isn't this living irresponsibly?" No, this is not irresponsible living. But when you begin to feel the pressure and the anxiety begins to rise within, in those moments, seek first, not your own kingdom, but the kingdom of God. In other words, ask the question, "Ok, God. What are up to?"
Do you know what God is up to in the world? In your city? In your neighborhood? In your family? At your work? Today? God is focused on bringing people into his kingdom and the reason he has you where you are, and maybe, just maybe, the reason you are facing uncertainty is because God is about to do something unique in bringing even more people into his kingdom.
The greatest tragedy for us as Christians is to remain hidden in our corner of self-centeredness, taking care of ourselves, and miss out on what God may want to do in and through us. Jesus says, "I will take care of your deal, if you will focus on mine."
YEAH, BUT
Now if you're like me, my first response to Jesus' invitation is, "Yeah, but I have to get a job, and take of my family." Jesus says, "Hey, trust me. I take care of birds. I take care of plants. Just try me and test me and seek first my kingdom. I will give you the rest, because you are so valuable to me." So we seek and we keep our eyes and ears open to what God might want to do, not in spite of, but because of and through our uncertainty.
Again, your favorite Bible stories happen within the context of uncertainty. In uncertain times, God isn't asleep. He is more active than ever. Therefore, we can't afford to bury ourselves under our own concerns. Now is the time, more than any other time, maybe in our life, now is the time for you and I as believers to come out of the corner and say, "Yeah I have concerns and I have worries. I have unanswered questions. But I want to leverage the uncertainty in my life for the sake of God's kingdom. I am going to seek first his kingdom, whatever that means and I will trust him to give to me the things he knows I need whatever that might be."
All the stuff we worry about, it's not what life is about anyway. We need to seek first God's kingdom, and trust him to take care of all the stuff that causes us to worry. Yes there will times that are stressful and we will be tempted to take matters back into our own hands because God doesn't seem to be worrying about it as much as we think he should. But what if all of us as Christians began to look around for opportunities to pursue and further God's kingdom, instead of worrying? And every time we are tempted to worry, we remember to seek first God's kingdom, and let him take care of everything else. Can you imagine what would happen?
THE OPPORTUNITY
Now let me close this chapter by asking you a question. Is there a way through your words and your actions to further God's kingdom? I know that's difficult, but that's the opportunity we have as believers in the midst of uncertainty. Think about this: the uncertainty that fills the pages of Scripture was not for the benefit of the people who faced the uncertainty. It was for the benefit of people who heard about, who later read about, and who were inspired by their response to uncertainty. Our circumstances are no different.
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