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Matthew 6:33

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Don't worry about things. In the verses leading up to this little gem of a promise, Jesus has gone on for a good 33 verses about living a good, authentic godly life. He pleads with the people gathered around him to not worry about the everyday life type things, to not worry about whether or not they will have enough. I love how specific Jesus gets: don't worry about the clothes you wear, or having enough food, or having enough to drink . . . Let's face it, every day most we think about how much money is in the bank, and if we will be able to provide enough food and shelter and clothing for our families. (Unless, of course, that's just me.) Jesus repeats himself a lot here because He knows He needs to. He knows the pressures of this unstable world get way too heavy at times, and we literally can't stand under them. His simplicity is beyond refreshing (verse 27): "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" But the "phew" promise? "For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.." (verse 32). What I'm getting at is this: GOD WILL LOOK AFTER YOU, ALWAYS. He knows what you need, and He will provide for you.

Even more, we live in a consumer driven culture. I'm not going to lie to you. Well I can't lie to you because a lot of you reading this know me too well: I like stuff. I like stuff and clothes and bags and clothes and cosmetics and clothes and good food and shoes and clothes and clothes. To make it worse for my bank (and husband's stress levels) I like fine quality stuff and clothes and bags and clothes etc. It's ridiculous. So while I want to be true to who I am, I pray everyday that I can really find what is important in life and not be focused on stuff and things because (as Jesus also says in this chapter) things will come and go and moths and dust eventually destroy all the stuff we spend our money on. People's lives and hearts are all that matter. Period. And I think this is what it means to seek first, above all the other stuff, the kingdom of God and all His righteousness. To seek His heart above all else. To ask Him that His desires would become your desires, that what breaks His heart would also break yours. To seek and stand for justice on the whole earth. That is what God stands for.

And you know the beauty of God as a Dad? He is a push over for His kids. As I keep my heart rock solid and fully focused on Him, sacrificing my silly wants for what is just and real and eternal, He will often treat me with the unnecessary stuff that I have had my little eye on. He is so kind.

Keep yourself focused and occupied with seeking first the kingdom of God and all that it stands for (the righteousness, peace and joy of the good news of Jesus), so that when worry and unbelief creep into your mind, you are so distracted with Jesus and what matters to Him, you find yourself laughing at the thought of being stranded by God.