Seasons of Winter

So, it is 3:39 AM. I have been rattling around since shortly after 2 AM, concerning myself with the weather and the fire. The wind picked up and seems to have shifted for good from south to north. The snow picked up too. So, I stoked the fire and opened my Bible to where I left off before bed. Matthew 6. Hmmm… One of a few of my life passages, yet I am not yet fully convinced that I have it down. My wife might smirk at that understatement. I certainly don't have this down to a science due to my fretting… "Do not worry…" it says.

 

I think I did not used to worry. But then I think that I also used to jump off of cliffs at Green Bay too. I remember the day that I last looked over the edge and thought to myself, "Why am I doing this?" and walked away, never again tempted to prove my manhood in that manner. Something changed in me. Perhaps it is the natural inclination of wisdom, or it could be age – less testosterone, greater fear of heights, etc. I know that some of it is the natural progression of things, you know, "Old-Guy stuff." We get beat up a bit as we go along. We learn that we are indeed "vincible," that ignorance is not a part of the armor that protects us, and that wisdom and prudence sometimes look a lot like cowardice to some. But worry? Hmmm…

 

I have been thinking about that a lot lately. The economy is on the skids. I hear through the news daily how the gears are grinding down throughout the nation and I grow more frustrated at the ignorance and folly that seems to be in charge. I see people who have mandated stupidity blaming greedy CEO's and greed for the problems. I think to myself (what I understand may be attributed to Oprah or to Rush), "There is nothing so expensive as ignorance…". There is plenty of blame to go around, but as winter sets in, I sit by my warm fire and ponder just how long will this take and how deep will it get? Is it worry? To some extent it certainly is. Is it prudence, to some extent, yes.

 

I chide myself on the worry topic all the time, but no amount of chiding and self-yelling can fix sin. We are not told, "Try not to worry," after all; but we are instead commanded. "Do not worry" – just as we are commanded to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. It is not a suggestion intended to make us feel better, so when I worry, when we worry, it is sin. OK, so I have done the whole honesty thing, now what? I am not cured. I still have a lot on my mind. My prayers are filled with questions and not answers, mostly one-sided conversations that never seem to end and though I eventually find peace and do sleep, eventually worry returns.

 

Is it lack of faith? After all, if I had faith, would I not be able to move mountains? If I had faith that God would fix the economy and a thousand other things, then yes, faith might be just the thing. The problem is, it is partly my faith that is troubling me. You see, I am reasonably certain that calamity does not come without a reason. Amos, Job and some other examples come to mind here. Some great examples also come from the Pilgrims and also the Old Testament Israelites. We see repeatedly where people forget God and He brings some measure of judgment on them. You see, I believe that God is in the business of redeeming the lost, and healing the sick. The problem is that we don't think that we are lost or sick; so, I am concerned that there is no easy way out of this. I think that we need a serious time of national examination, confession and revitalization of our hearts toward the things of God. I simply worry that this is not in the cards, to put in pagan terms. I think we have had a series of warnings, and now I see us simply applying our best human fixes to things (money, mostly) that require moral and spiritual renewal.

 

That brings me back to Matthew 6, which I enjoy reading by the fire, at 2 AM. And Matthew 7. And similar passages in Luke, though I stay in Matthew most. Anyway, Matthew 5 through 7 are part of the famous Sermon on the Mount, so it is good to read the entirety together. Tonight, (this morning) I read though 7 and beyond and something made more sense. Putting it into words makes it seem a little bit simple, especially since it has been taking a while for me to put it into words in the first place; but there is a concept in there where Jesus Himself says, "…do not cast your pearls before swine…". I have a MacArthur study Bible, and though I often try to be spiritually macho and just "let the Spirit lead me" as I read, tonight (this morning) I read the notes on this. He points out that Jesus did not heal the unbelievers. I thought, "What?!" It never even occurred to me like that before. Sure, He says to them things like, "…your faith has made you whole…" and scolds them in other places for having so little faith too, but… …If He cured someone, wouldn't they believe then? Obviously not.

 

In these same passages, Jesus says that He came to those who needed Him. The Pharisees did not need Him, for instance. After all, they were sons of Abraham and teachers of the Law. "Hmmm…" I say. This is part of what the Lord is constantly doing – trying to warn, trying to point out how much we need Him, trying to give us mercy. Yet we, even in the Church, have a nasty habit of believing that we are OK.

 

This last part ties in to some previous posts/comments that lead to this: I cannot, no matter how hard I try, conjure up a little more faith. The Bible says, "…faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God…". So, it is imperative that we be rooted, grounded, thoroughly immersed in it so that, in times of trouble (or not) we can first recognize our need, then repent of sin, then tell others how much they need God and how much He loves them. God will not cast His pearls before swine. He wants people to come to a place of need, and belief in Him.

 

There is another idea in Matthew 6 that we need to remember: He causes it to rain on both the just and the unjust. He knows when the sparrow falls. He clothes even the most common flower in beauty that men have failed to match with their finest cloth. He is capable of taking care of each of His own, and has promised this. In fact, He tells us to ask for everything from our daily bread to, well, "anything" to put it literally. I know that we are in troubled times. I know that there are a lot of things to be "concerned about", but I know that God has our concerns in mind. Why? Two reasons that I can think of: 1) He is our Father and He is crazy about us; 2) He wants us to focus on kingdom things – like feeding His sheep and telling others about His love. Oh yeah, one more reason – 'cause He says so over and over.

 

So, my worry sin? I will probably keep falling from time to time because I still have that sin nature on this side of Heaven; but I intend to keep falling back into Scripture and I continually find that great, familiar peace of knowing that God has a purpose and a plan. While I am still truly grieving the state of things – especially our great nation and those who are suffering – I look forward to seeing God work too. In the meantime I pray that we see the need.

I am praying for an early spiritual spring…

References: Amos 3 thru 4; 6:1-6; 8:5-8; 9:13-15; Matthew 5-10;