In the Gospel of Matthew (6:25-34), Jesus encourages his disciples not to worry. Specifically, he tells them not to worry about their practical needs, like food and clothing.  Why?  Well, he argues that if God takes care of the birds in the air and the flowers in the field, then why wouldn’t he take care of them?  Jesus tells the disciples that God knows what they need, so they need to trust that He will take care of their needs.  He then ends his argument by saying,

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33 (KJV)

Essentially, Jesus is saying this: If you put God first in your life, you can trust that God will make sure that everything else falls into place. That sounds great, doesn’t it?  And when things are going well, it is easy for me to believe that God will take care of all my needs.  If my life is going well, then trusting God is easy because it involves no risk.  I don’t need to worry about my needs because they are already met.  But believing that God will meet my needs when I am in crisis, or when I don’t have what I need, takes trust.

With the passing of each year, I do get better about worrying less. My faith in God comes from experience.  I have found that God always resolves the challenging situations in my life – eventually.  He doesn’t resolve them on my timetable, unfortunately, but He does resolve them.

All that being said, my trust in God is far from perfect. That became abundantly clear to me this past summer when my husband had a major surgery.  Before the surgery, we were told that there were risks, but the doctors said that he had a 95% chance of coming through the operation without issue.  So, for the most part, I didn’t worry.  I am a “cup is half full” sort of person, and it seemed to me like a 95% success rate were pretty good odds.

But, unfortunately, my husband landed in the 5%. The operation did not go according to plan.  After the operation, my husband spent 5 days on life support, and the doctors could not guarantee me that he would survive.  My world was turned upside down.  I felt very alone, afraid and overwhelmed.  I certainly didn’t think, “Well, just follow Matthew 6:33 – seek the kingdom of God – and it will all be OK.”  My faith in God was tested, and I failed – spectacularly.

While he was on life support, I pleaded with God to save my husband.  However, my arguments in favor of God saving him seemed sort of weak.  (People die every day, so it is hard to argue that one person should be saved over another.)  So, then I reminded God of how very imperfect my life had been, and I told God that he “owed” me my husband.  Finally, when that didn’t seem to be working, I negotiated with God.  I told him that I’d give up anything that He wanted me to give up, if He would just save my husband.  Not surprisingly, God was silent during this conversation.

The day after the operation, my pastor came to the hospital. While we stood in the ICU next to my husband who was attached to what seemed like 20 machines, I explained to my pastor my “negotiations” with God.  He said to me, “Meerabelle, fear not.  Trust God.”

Fear not. Trust God.

And that was his consistent advice throughout the experience of my husband being in ICU for weeks, then in the post-surgical ward, and finally in rehabilitation. Fear not.  Trust God.

Simple advice, but hard to follow. But think about how much easier life would be, if we stopped worrying, stopped being afraid, and just trusted God.  Nothing could happen in our lives that would shake us.

My new mantra is “Fear Not. Trust God.” Those are the words I want to live by.  In everything that I do, I want to do my best and not worry about the outcome.  I’ve learned that outcomes are God’s business.  My job is just to trust God and obey Him in all that I do.

If you are going through a challenging time right now, I encourage you to follow my pastor’s advice: Fear not. Trust God.  He hears your prayers.  He knows your concerns.  Cast your cares to Him and trust that He is working in your life for your benefit.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  Jeremiah 29: 11-13

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