I have 4 days left in Missoula. 4 days. Time is a funny thing, it can move so fast or so slow yet it’s constant. We can’t control it, only take advantage of the time we have. The last few months have sped by for me and I still can’t believe I’m leaving soon. There are a lot of unknowns ahead of me. More than I care to think about to be honest. There is a ton I don’t know, and won’t know until I experience it. I have to do my part in preparation but in the end, Chicago is going to rip my face off, no matter what. The past few days have been days of anxiousness. I don’t really know what I’m getting into, and I’m definitely nervous about a lot of things. How I’m going to pay for school for the next four years, how I’m going to adjust to being in downtown Chicago. I’m nervous about starting completely over with friends and school, and really my life. There’s excitement too, I’m excited to see what God is going to do. I’m excited to be taking steps toward my future in ministry. Yet, there’s still an anxious spirit within me.
As I think about it, I have many unknowns in my future, but that’s where faith comes in. Without unknowns in my life, there would be no need for faith. I want to be defined as a man of faith, and to be that I have to be willing to step out of my comfort zone, throw myself out into the open, and trust God will be with me.
I heard it said once, that the end goal of faith is to no longer need it. I have faith in Jesus Christ, yet when I see Him one day I will no longer need my faith in Him. My faith is what will save me in the end, but it will no longer be needed. Having served its purpose I will be able to live without faith. Oh, how wonderful it will be to no longer need faith but rather to be close to the living God, to walk with Him on the streets of gold, to see His splendor and majesty before me!
I was flipping through the New Testament searching for a verse recently, when I came across one of my favorite passages of scripture. Matthew 6:25-34 says this:
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
After I read this passage, I literally laughed out loud at myself. To think I wasn’t trusting God with everything. It’s still funny to me. Right here, Jesus promises that His Father knows what we need even more than we do, and he’s fully aware of everything going on. He knows the number of hairs on our heads, and He promises to take care of His children.
These verses have been a place of freedom for me, freedom from all my worries and fears. They have been a shield, a rock against the waves. I thank God that He knows all, and that His hand is in my life. God knows what I’m doing, and where I’m going, and He is with me all the way. This doesn’t mean I won’t face anything difficult in school, or that I won’t have to struggle through things, but it does mean that He is with me. He is sovereign, and He loves me.
One of my favorite new worship songs is Chris Tomlin’s Our God. The lyrics are powerful and comforting.
Water you turned into wine, opened the eyes of the blind there's no one like you none like You!Into the darkness you shine out of the ashes we rise there's no one like you none like You!
Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.
Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!
Into the darkness you shine out of the ashes we rise there's no one like you none like You!
Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.
Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!
Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.
Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!
And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us.
And if our God is with us, then what could stand against.
And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us.
And if our God is with us, then what could stand against.
What could stand against.
Our God is greater, our God is stronger,
God you are higher than any other.
Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!
Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.
Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!
And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us.
And if our God is with us, then what could stand against.
And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us.
And if our God is with us, then what could stand against.
Then what could stand against.
Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.
Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!
Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.
Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!
