Living in the Spirit
July 23, 2022
Scripture Reading:
Luke 11:14-31
He said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
The noun worry means mental distress or agitation resulting from concern usually for something impending or anticipated, anxiety*. My mother was a worrier. I used to think that she subconsciously thought if she worried enough about something over which she had no control, worrying would help the situation in some way. Mom was a devout Christian and what appeared to me as worry probably was a prayer expressed in anxiety. Mom was a doer of the word and was not at home with being unable to rectify a situation. Paul, too, was a doer of the word and he addressed worrisome experiences in Romans 8:26 when he wrote Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.
The story of Jacob wrestling with God, Genesis 32:22-32, Illustrates this idea. Jacob had decided to return home and did not know if he would be welcomed. He wrestled with the situation throughout the night and finally demanded of God a blessing which he was granted with the changing of his name to Israel. Along with being enabled to face his family, he was blessed to become the ancestor of a great nation challenged with being a people through whom God could advance God’s kingdom.
There is a plodding old hymn nobody wants to sing anymore. We do not have the patience. It is not in most hymnals.
God is working this purpose out,
as year succeeds to year;
God is working this purpose out,
and the time is drawing near;
nearer and nearer draws the time,
the time that shall surely be:
when the earth shall be filled with the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea**.
Prayer: Grant us the patience to serve you in your time frame, while instilling in us the will to be doers of your word at all times. Amen.
*https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/worry
**First verse of God is Working His Purpose Out by Arthur Campbell Ainger see at https://hymnary.org/text/god_is_working_his_purpose_out#Author
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.