Breaking Fog
Is it possible not to worry about anything?
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today. - Matthew 6:25-34
Over the course of the past two months, we have noticed a change.
Stores which were donating thousands of pounds of food per week started cutting back. Because of inflation and supply chain issues, there is less food on the shelves in the stores, so there is less available for donation at the end of the day.
Perhaps people are buying more, so stores don't have as much left over, but whatever the reason, we are receiving less to give to the hungry.
Because of this, we have to buy more food.
At some point, if this trend continues, we may not be able to make up the difference and will have to cut back on what we offer to the communities we serve.
Should I start to worry?
Or should I sit back and do nothing, waiting for God to provide?
The way I interpret the message in today's Gospel is to have faith and trust that God will show us the way through these problems.
If we remain focused on the mission, believing it is what God wills for His people, He will enlighten us to ways to fill the gaps and keep the needs flowing.
The way God gives is through God's people, so the message may be to let the people know there is a need, and they will pitch in to help.
And God also enlightens us to seek alternatives. Working with local farms, we can get crops at harvest and offer those to the community.
God will help by inspiring others to pitch in, to offer from their bounty, to help with the harvest, to provide funds for purchases.
If we are waiting for the problem to be solved, we may wait a long time, and we may be disappointed, thinking God has abandoned us.
But if we set our sights on the Kingdom and focus through the panic, we will see solutions that were not clear to us before, like breaking fog.
God has given us a will and a mind to help us follow our heart and soul. In Him, we will be able to do amazing things, but we need to be willing to work for it.
More to come...