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Tuesday, January 18, 2005
One of my favorite movies of all-time is entitled "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." The main storyline is Ferris, a high school student, wakes up to a beautiful day and simply can't stand the thought of being in school on such a magnificent morning. He dupes his parents, sister and school administrators so he can go on adventures. Among them were:
Sitting by the pool hanging out.
Going to a Cubs baseball game.
Going to a museum.
Eating lunch in a fancy restaurant.
Going to the Sears Tower observation deck.
And finally, leading the city of Chicago in a rousing rendition of "Twist and Shout" on a parade float.
Ferris was a care-free kinda guy.
This is in stark contrast to his best friend, Cameron. Cameron was continually worried about all sorts of things. When Ferris called him to join the escapade, it took him a few minutes to decide. He worried about his health (he felt the flu coming on so he was staying home anyway). He worried about whether or not their principal would catch them. He was highly concerned (and, rightfully so) about Ferris taking out his dad's Porsche. Even after going on all the adventures with Ferris, at the end of the day, he moped that he ditched school and didn't "get to see anything good today." (Which prompted Ferris to hop the parade float)
Anyway, I don't want to take the analogy too far, but I think a lot of followers of Christ have this innate ability to be like Cameron with regard to how they live their lives. They worry about where they're going to get money for stuff. They worry about their homework & grades. They worry about what their parents think. They worry about their relationships with friends. They worry about what college they're going to (or not going to). You name it. There are very few "Ferris Bueller" types out there...at least in my experience.
Should there be?
Well..let's look at Matthew 6: 25--30.
"For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, an dyet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single moment to his life's span? And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow. They do not toil nor do they spin. Yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not do so much more for you, O men of little faith?"
Remember that this is smack in the middle of Jesus' manifesto...and telling Israel that they were doing a lousy job of being the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
Apparently, worrying was one of those things that caused them to do a lousy job of being the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
They worried about food.
They worried about clothing.
And Jesus told them this was unnecessary by observing some things about nature.
God even gave the birds food, even though they didn't work like people work.
God gave flowers beautiful clothing, even though they just stuck in the ground and sat there.
Oh, another thing: Worrying doesn't help. See verse 27 again.
So, what's the big deal about worrying? I mean, so what if somebody wants to worry? All it'll do will maybe give them a stomach ulcer or forehead wrinkles, right?
Well, it isn't so much about the "results" of the worrying as it is the "reason" for the worrying. Jesus points out in the last verse we read:
A lack of faith.
See, it makes sense that Cameron wouldn't have faith in Ferris. I mean, Ferris had an observable track record in both academia as well as his relationships. Cameron knew that it was possible that the whole plan could fall apart in a second. Cameron's decade-long worrying about his realtionship with his father also caused him to push his father's Porsche down a cliff.
But we're to have faith in God to provide for us. His track record is impeccable. We can see it by how he takes care of birds and adorns flowers and that we're much more important to Him than either of those. But it goes beyond that, too. In my suburban lifestyle, we don't miss meals. We have plenty of clothes. In fact, our danger is that we have too much of those things. But we don't have to worry about those things. In fact, we really don't have to worry about anything. We simply have to trust God that His plan is best for us and figure out what that plan is (which we'll discuss more tomorrow).
But for today, make a list of the short-term things you're worrying about. Maybe it's a big test. Maybe it's a schedule change. Maybe it's about getting a job. Maybe it's about your parents getting a divorce. Maybe it's about how you're going to get transportation. Maybe it's about your relationship (or lack thereof) with your boyfriend/girlfriend.
Then tell God that you trust Him.
And then give Him the list. Trust Him to show you enough of the unknown path. And stop worrying about it.
Brent 4:39 AM
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