Don’t frighten them, therefore, saying: What shall we eat, or drink, or wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things; but your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:31-33).
This pandemic has revealed much about the nature of human beings.
Some of them are positive, but many others are negative. And one of the latter isthe high level of anxiety we have about the future.
Now it seems an almost comical anecdote, but do you remember when toilet paper disappeared from supermarkets? It seemed as if it would cease to be produced forever.
And every time we are warned of a possible emergency, people run in panic to gather the most unbelievable things. Although it is also true that, as I have already mentioned, this is happening less and less frequently.
Perhaps the problem is the sensationalism with which some news is treated. There are no more winters, now there are “polar air masses” and “deep squalls”; and there are no more storms, now everything is “isolated high level depressions” or “explosive cyclogenesis”.
Whenever something is out of the ordinary, we call it an emergency. We will probably end up like in the story of Peter and the wolf, that we get used to everything being false emergencies and stop paying attention to them. And when the real emergency comes, many will be left out of the game.
In any case, with so many alarm bells ringing continuously about health crises, migratory crises, economic crises, unemployment and job insecurity, natural disasters, etc., etc., etc., etc., we already have the “perfect explosive cyclogenesis” that is leading us to live almost in a permanent state of psychosis.
And in this state people jump for anything, and every little stumble becomes a Greek tragedy.
Faced with such an uncertain and threatening future, it is not surprising that health and multi-risk insurance, as well as online psychology consultations are growing like crazy.
Not everything is negative in this situation, though. Some are turning their eyes to God; and many Christians have been pushed to abandon their self-sufficiency, and learn to trust and depend on God.
It is therefore not surprising that, over the past year, one of the most consulted biblical passages on the Internet has been Matthew chapter 6 and verses 31 to 33: Don’t frighten them, therefore, saying: What shall we eat, or drink, or wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things; but your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
This passage is a precious treasure and an immense promise from the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He knew our anxiety and fears, and He knows our need for security.
But while the world puts its trust in material things, a good job, a good house or a good savings, Jesus urges us to put our trust in God, and to prioritize our relationship with him, rather than trying to secure a good future.
For if our life is hidden with Christ in God, if we are in the hands of our Savior, if we have chosen to be servants of our Lord, our first priority must be to live for Him. Because when we do this, in simplicity and humility, God himself takes control of our life and our needs.
But handing over control of our lives to God is something we find difficult, because it gives us the feeling that we are going to lose our autonomy. However, the truth is that the opposite is true, because although we will not always be able to do things when we would like or as we would like, the reality is that, in this way, everything will happen in God’s time and in God’s way. And this will result in blessing.
And remember the words of the book of Proverbs chapter 10 and verse 22: The blessing of God is that which enriches, and does not add sorrow with it.
So put your trust in God, give your life to your Lord, and let him mold it to his best judgment. And you will see the glory of God manifest in your life.
God bless you.
Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash
En el Valle de Sombra de Muerte
A lo largo de nuestras vidas, todos vamos a pasar por valles de oscuridad y dolor.
Pero la Palabra de Dios da ánimo, y nos muestra cómo seguir adelante en dichos momentos, y vencer.
