Do not worry!
"Easy for YOU to say!!!" certainly echoes in my head from time to time when I come across these three words. The troubles of my day can seem all too overwhelming. No, they don't just seem that way. Often times they are. Troubles encroach, and I tremble with worry.
Bonhoeffer starts us down this road by highlighting the fact that we need to work on appropriately detaching from what we normally cling to for security: material goods and treasures. And we detach from them not just for the sake of detaching, but because in their absence we are faced with the truth of who we really are today. And it is in that moment, "now," that we learn to receive what God has for us: which is always exactly enough for us.
I am on the road of trying to figure out what this means and how I live into it.
What does it look like for you?
"Do not worry! Earthly goods deceive the human heart into believing that they give it security and freedom from worry. But in truth, they are what cause anxiety. The heart which clings to goods receives with them the choking burden of worry. Worry collects treasures, and treasures produce more worries...
Abuse of earthly goods consists of using them as a security for the next day. Worry is always directed towards tomorrow. But the goods are intended only for today in the strictest sense. It is our securing things for tomorrow which makes us so insecure today. It is enough that each day should have its own troubles. Only those who put tomorrow completely into God's hand and receive fully today what they need for their lives are really secure. Receiving daily liberates me from tomorrow."
- from his book Discipleship
Scripture to consider:
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
Psalm 36:7-9
Prayer for today:
Lord, I place my worries in your gracious hand and live this day trusting that you are with me and that what I have is more than I need.
Amen
For me, the "idols" of success and achievement seem to be the heart of all my worry and fear which has at times debilitated me. I am trying to give these worries up to God and focus on knowing that i have value irrespective of what i do, which i must say is a very difficult concept for me to embrace and keep close. It's adverse to my upbringing, adverse to my personality, etc. I want others to approve and only when I move the focus to God and not others will I really serve and be my best self.
ReplyDeleteWell said. "Moving the focus" seems to be one of the keys. Re-orienting the way we bolster ourselves with a sense of self-worth is a long road. As you say, in such success-driven environs, the default to these familiar paradigms of success and achievement drives so much of the fear that is in our systems. What happens when we can start letting go of those fears? What kind of motivation begins to take it's place? Good questions to ponder...
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of focus, as holy week nears, I'm trying to focus on the cross, which is the antithesis of human achievement and success. Its an unnatural place to look, and sometimes I want to avert my eyes or gaze instead at the horizon beyond, where the Easter sun will dawn. But the Lenten journey calls me to focus on Jesus, and focusing on him means I walk with him even where I don't want to go. Lord, have mercy. Sarah
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