Careless in the Care of God

Last summer I moved into a house and needed a lawn mower. So, like any Gen Z would, I bought a well-used one from Facebook marketplace. It worked great(ish) last summer, but the other day it took a dive. The handle that was duct taped onto the mower completely fell off. I tried fixing it, but I majored in English not mechanics.

So, I was left with a decision. Buy a new lawn mower, get a used one, or even pay someone to mow my lawn. As far as life decisions go this one is pretty minute, but I couldn’t decide what to do. Why? Because I don’t have all the details. I don't know how much longer I'm going to live in this house. I don't know if I'll need a lawn mower at the next place I live. I don't even know what town or city I'm going to be living in next year!

For the last couple of years, this is how I've lived. I've lived life on a year-to-year basis with only a few ideas of what's to come next. For someone with a type A personality this is hard. I want a plan! I want a step-by-step map of what my next five years look like. The next ten and even twenty years. I want all the details figured out.

But right now, I don't even know if I should buy a new lawn mower or not.

I’m constantly getting caught up in worrying about all the tomorrows. I hate not having a plan while my boyfriend hates planning. Needless to say, he stresses me out but maybe he’s on to something. Truth be told, we can fill out our planners and have them color coded by the hour, but the reality is that we have no idea what tomorrow looks like. Let alone what tomorrow looks like five or ten years down the road.

It seems like almost every day you hear about a new person getting diagnosed with cancer or a young kid losing their life in a car accident.

It wasn't that long ago when the world completely stopped in a matter of days. One minute we were going to school and planning vacations and the next minute we were fighting our neighbors in the grocery store for a few rolls of toilet paper.

I don't mean to bring up the horrors of 2020, but I say all that to say, we don't know what tomorrow looks like. That's why Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:34, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

That might sound depressing at first. It seems like Jesus is telling us that we are going to have too many problems today to even began worrying about all the problems we'll have tomorrow. But that's actually the opposite of what he is saying. Jesus is telling us that we don't have to worry about tomorrow because he's already got tomorrow covered. Instead, he wants us to spend our time and attention on what God is doing today.

You know the old saying - stop and smell the roses. How often do we really do that? How often do we take the time to stop and breathe in the beauty of all that God is doing right now, today, and in this season of life?

I know for me, that's something I rarely do. I have a habit of walking so fast that I rarely even see the roses at all! I am so busy worrying about tomorrow that I miss all the beauty in today.

Jesus asks us in Matthew 6:27, "Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"

If the answer was yes, I would live to be at least 110 years old. But of course, the answer is no. Science even tells us that stress actually shortens our life spans. I love the way the Message version of the Bible puts it. "Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much of an inch?"

As much as we wish the answer was "yes!", it's still a big fat no. You can worry all day long about when you'll get accepted into that school, when you'll find your husband, or when you'll get that dream job, but I can speak from experience and tell you that worrying won't get you anywhere.

Instead, Jesus tells us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. (Matthew 6:33) No, he does not say to worry about it, lose sleep over it, and then seek him. He says to seek him first.

I know that is the exact opposite of what culture tells us to do. We have normalized stressing about everything. What to wear, eat, and drink. Even lawn mowers! But Jesus tells us not to sweat the small stuff and honestly, even the big stuff too. I know that sounds impossible, but I think it’s worth a shot.

Paul tells us in his letters to the Philippians, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6)

This echos exactly what Jesus is trying to tell us and isn't beautiful? The God who made the entire universe wants you to come to him with all your worries! He cares about you so much that he wants you to come to him about anything and everything. Even something as silly as a lawn mower.

The great I AM gives us permission to be careless in the care of God.

As kids we didn't lay in bed worrying about tomorrow. We didn't spend our days worrying about next year or the next five after that. Why not? Because we knew that was our parent's job. So why now is it any different? Isn't it still our Father's job?

I have absolutely no idea what my plans are for next year or the years after. Honestly, it does stress me out. At least once a day! But instead of sitting in that stress I can push it away knowing that my Father knows my steps long before I do. In Jeremiah 29:11 it says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

That's one of the most quoted verses in scripture. Most of us know it, but very few of us are actually living it out. Like me, you probably look at your five-year plan with all its holes and question marks and start nervous sweating. But we don't have to! We can look at all the holes and be excited knowing that God has a perfect plan for us.

So, what's keeping you up at night?

Can worrying about it fix the problem?

Have you brought it to God yet?

I pray that today you can stop worrying about tomorrow and start living careless in the care of God.