God

You are Much More Valuable.

Morgan Jager1 Comment

25 “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? 26 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? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 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? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)

I think a lot of us need to take a moment and read through those verses slowly right now. And hey, we have the time… am I right?! So do that right now. Go back and read those verses slowly.

COVID-19 has been a disorienting and incredibly intense situation to watch unfold over the last few weeks. And yet, I just have a deeper and greater hope in the reality that God is with us, He sees us, and He cares for us.

Matthew 6:25-34 give us some really great truths to hold on to. Obviously, the main idea in this passage is “Do not worry.” Jesus is guiding his hearers to truth by pointing them to trust that God is the one who is in control and who cares for His world. He is asking His hearers to have a new perspective and understanding by reminding them that there is One True King who is Lord over all!

Jesus supports the idea of “do not worry” by talking about two examples: the birds and the flowers. These are both things that are pretty common and we see them often. Jesus says that the birds do not store up food or worry about tomorrow. They live day-by-day, trusting that they will be provided for. And God provides for them day after day after day. If God cares for the birds, who fly around everywhere, sometimes are very annoying to us, and who are not made in the image of God, how much more does He care for YOU!?

“Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Matthew 6:26b

Then Jesus tells us about the flowers, or lilies of the field. These are actually wildflowers… just simple flowers that grow in a field that no one cares for or tends to. Many of these flowers that pop up will not even be seen by the human eye! And yet, God cares for them. He sees them and calls them beautiful and valuable. How much more, friend, does God care for you…who are made in His image and lasts far longer than the flowers which wither quickly and fade away? You are so much more valuable.

“…will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?”

Matthew 6:30b

I love that in each of these examples, Jesus points our attention to our value being “much more” than the birds and the flowers. Both of these things seem so delicate and dependent. Jesus reminds us that we are of so much more value than these, helping us gain a perspective on life where God is the true King. If we understand our right position as image bearers and children, and trust God to be in charge, then we have no need of worry because we serve a good King who knows each of our needs!

The Lord was so kind to have me teach our middle school students on the verses above at our last gathering as a group for the foreseeable future. How kind is the Lord to leave those students and leaders with the message of “Do not worry” and “You are much more valuable than the birds and flowers!” Incredibly kind.

So today, I hope you hear the truths of these verses: Do not worry, for you are much more valuable than they! In the midst of constant change and alarming news, may you find security, safety, and stability in the words of Jesus, proclaimed 2,000 years ago on a mountainside across the world. Be encouraged, and set your perspective in the right place… on the One True King who is still ruling and reigning amidst it all. Then find someone else to encourage today! You are dearly loved, so do not worry.

Wave After Wave.

Morgan Jager1 Comment

Once I tried to go paddleboarding in the ocean with a cast on my arm. I’m pretty active and enjoy challenges, so I thought this would be fun! I put the waterfree cast protector on my arm, attached the paddleboard to my ankle, and headed to the shore. I was ready to get out in the ocean and prove to all the people on the beach that I had a secret talent.

I made two mistakes that day. First, I realized I have never actually paddle boarded in the ocean, only calm lakes were you basically just sit on a board and float around. Second, I forgot my paddle.

As I took some steps into the salty and violent waters, I realized that the hardest part was going to be getting past the breaking point of the waves. I made several attempts at getting over the waves with my board and cast. By now there was a small group of people on the beach watching the crazy girl with only one swimming arm in the ocean.

The waves continued to knock me down. I remember tumbling under the water several times and losing my board. And then I would get too close to the beach and my board would get stuck in the sand. But the waves never quit. They continued to dramatically push me over, causing me to lose my already very flimsy balance.

Eventually I made it past the breaking point. It was at this moment I realized that my paddle was still on the shore. So now I was in the middle of the ocean, without a paddle, trying to maintain balance on a board, and unable to really swim since I only had one good arm.

If you’ve ever had an experience like this or if you’ve simply been to the beach and watched the waves come in relentlessly, you know that it’s wave after wave after wave. The ocean is relentless. It doesn’t care if you are a child or a bad swimmer or a crazy girl with a cast on her arm. The waves will not stop coming.

And life is often like the ocean: it doesn’t relent, it doesn’t slow down, and it just keeps coming. I’m sure you have felt this in your own life, like I have in mine. Those seasons, or months, or years, where it just feels like the world is against you and nothing is going to slow it down. Those seasons can feel extremely defeating and exhausting. It feels like if you could just have a moment to catch your breath, you would be able to stand again and take a step, even if it’s only a small one.

If this is where you find yourself right now, I want you to hear this: God sees you, He keeps you, and He knows you. He is not unaware of what you are experiencing and He deeply cares for you. You are seen. You are kept. You are loved. It may not feel like you are seen, kept, or loved, but you are. For me, it takes hearing those words from someone else for me to truly believe them. So this is me telling you what is true: God is there.

I want to close by sharing one of my favorite little stories from a children’s book called, “Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing” by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Jago (who also wrote and illustrated “The Jesus Storybook Bible”).

What words does God want you to treasure in the deepest part of you?

“Be good?” “Do it better?” “Try harder?” Are those the words God wrote in the Bible for us, to rescue and free us?

No. Those words only show us what we can’t do.

The words God wants us to remember are just three small ones: “I love you.”

They are the words that stop the Terrible Lie that Satan whispered to Eve in the garden: “God doesn’t love you!” They are the words that heal the poison in our hearts that stops us from trusting God.

They are the words that Jesus came to tell us with his whole life.

They are the words he died to prove.

What words will you treasure today?

“Three Small Words” (Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing) by Sally Lloyd-Jones & Jago

I pray this encouraged your heart today if you are in a season of relentless life. And if you are not, I pray you will remember these truths when life hits you with wave after wave. He sees you, friend.

Oh, and I eventually made it back to the shore after a kind man swam out to me with my paddle, but I don’t intend on repeating that experience again. 🙂