The Amplified Bible translates Matthew 6:25 as this:
Therefore I tell you, stop being perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life,…
Just a short time ago I began to pray against “anxiousness.” The anxious thoughts that I have are not so much those of what I will wear or live, as the body of the text goes on to say; but my thoughts tend to focus so much lately on the “Kingdom” things that we have been talking about at Gateway.
What must be done? What can be done?
These are the two questions, and my anxiousness comes when the answer to those two are different. It is all too easy to get overwhelmed, or “perpetually uneasy” when it comes to the work of the Kingdom that must be done, but yet cannot be done. When I say “cannot,” it is only in the sense that my resources are limited. The catch is, however, that God’s resources are unlimited.
In these times, it is easy to doubt that God is listening; and it is a grand opportunity to get upset with God. In order to combat these feelings that God is unconcerned, I must keep some simple, yet profound, principles in the forefront of my mind:
- I must not despise small beginnings. God is working in small ways that are not perceivable when you are looking at the big picture.
- God has not forgotten the big picture. In fact, He designed the big picture and is not worried when spending time on a corner of that picture when it is in need of special attention.
- God sees the inside, as well as the outside. While the exterior might still be rough and unruly, God knows the questions and desires of the heart (and how to answer them).
- Nothing has caught God unaware. He knows. He is not shaken. He cares.
I don’t see it all, but I want to. God sees it all. I must simply learn to see Him.
