One hot summer my dad decided to take some of his charges to a local pond to do some fishing. The eager tomboy-ish side of myself begged to go along. I was forever attempting to insert myself within the tasks my dad had planned. Caring for and raising four children of his own and at least three others was not an easy task and our time with him was limited. Therefore, no matter how much I wanted to scrunch up my nose at the long, squirmy worms or the nasty smelling stink bait, I rose to the occasion, grabbed a fishing pole and headed to the pond. After baiting my own hook and learning the basic mechanics, I was on my way. I will interject here that I am a bit impatient. Okay, a lot impatient. My dad must have had God on his shoulder because I imagine my antics made any fish in the immediate vicinity find a way out of the pond. But, I will never forget how proud I was or the pat I got on the back from my dad when I reeled in that four inch long perch! I was so proud of my accomplishment I was determined that my catch was going to be scaled and gutted and prepared for dinner.
Funny enough, this leads me to a Bible story I have heard a number of times. During Jesus' time on the earth, He was speaking to a rather large crowd of people. His disciples must have dropped the ball, because no one thought to hire a caterer or even bring a picnic basket and the disciples were wrought with worry over how they would feed this large group of people. We aren't talking about fifty of their closest friends, this was a conference size crowd of five thousand. Christ, in His infinite wisdom, instructed the disciples to spread out and seek out any food that might be available. Out of that mass of five thousand, the disciples came back with five loaves of bread and two fishes. I don't know about you, but when food at any party I throw gets even halfway empty, I get concerned. I cannot imagine what was going through these guys minds staring at that meager offering. Christ, however, blessed the food, and they began to break the bread and serve the fish, only to find that all five thousand were fed to capacity, not a rumbling belly in the house.
Have any of you out there ever worried? I know I have. I have been laid off, unemployed, pregnant and wondering how we would be able to buy groceries each week. I have put a whole paycheck in the bank to find it still didn't bring the balance back into the positive. In those moments, those are when the true blessings showed up. When I said a prayer through tears, and something showed up on my doorstep, I knew from where it came. There was no question that whatever kindness I received in those moments where beautifully wrapped gifts complete with perfect bows from God. None of those boxes contained the total of that week's lottery, or a new luxury automobile, or a key to a new home with no mortgage. But they were from God, and at that moment, they were more precious that any of those things.
In Psalms 55:22 KJV, it says, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." When that little girl stood there hopping from one foot to the other with a fishing pole in her had, I am sure it was far from the idea of a relaxing day of fishing my dad had planned. And, I am sure that those disciples felt their hearts drop in their chests when they discovered no one had thought of food. There are things that come to your mind that bring worry, doubt, fear and uncertainty and you are at a conundrum as to what the solution will be. I take heart in what Christ tells us in Matthew 6:24-5 NIV, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
There is no need to worry, fret, doubt, we only need to trust in God for our needs. Will He test our strength, our will, our perseverance, our diligence, absolutely! As any good parent would, He will put us through the ringer if it means bringing us to the blessing He has in store for us. I am sure our God, that dearly loves us, has moments when He wishes he could turn away from our sin, but instead He lovingly redirects us to the path to where we will be richly blessed, we only have to accept his guidance. As my dad likely wished to cast his cares away behind a fishing pole, but was richly blessed upon seeing my broad smile as I caught my first fish or the disciples' fears were relieved when five thousand stomachs were filled, so I wish that on your weariest day, God leaves a precious blessing wrapped in gold and tied with loveliness to cast your cares away and redirect you to His love.
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