Spiritual Exercise, 20th May 2020

In one sentence Jesus tells His followers and listeners not to worry and in the next that “each day brings troubles of its own”. It dawned upon me that what He was trying to tell his listeners, and us, is that God provides in many ways. He looks after creation and sustains everything. We as humans need to trust Him unconditionally just as nature does. Then He explains this by means of a powerful picture, namely that of the lilies. He says to his listeners, and us, to look at the lilies of the field. He sustains the lilies despite the desert-like conditions. He provides the means for them to grow. Jesus is urging his followers that they must first seek the kingdom of God. He is telling them that they need to focus on the things that they really need in life and not necessarily the things that they want. They need the presence of God in everything they do. Sometimes they must trust him unconditionally like the lilies which He sustains despite the desert-like conditions. They must give God priority in everything they do. God will provide all their needs!

Life is not simple and most of the time it is a constant struggle to make sense of everything that happens to us, especially now. Sometimes we get impatient with God. We know that we need to be more trusting. For everything there is a season. In Spring the daffodils appear after a long winter. Just like the daffodils, we know that after every trying situation, after a long winter, there will be blessings and joy. In Africa we used to say, “if a door closes in your face a new journey starts to find the open window”. God will provide what we need and not necessarily what we want! But we must trust him enough to know it will be for the best. We cannot pray for a Mercedes Benz if we do not have a valid driving licence. To worry constantly is not a good option. Instead we need to find ways to channel our worries so that the worries become opportunities for action and change, especially when we ask God for His help! Amen