By: guest writer Katelyn Sims, senior global studies and Academy major from Cleburne/
For as long as I can remember, I have always thrived under routine and striven to have a plan – marking extensive to-do lists and checking the boxes in a timely manner. So, when a new season of life approaches, I hyper-fixate on my tasks to ensure that everything goes according to plan.
A new season of life with unprecedented challenges and opportunities going exactly the way I planned it … as if I’m able to predict and schedule the future. It sounds ridiculous but it’s genuinely what I try to do.
Often at the start of a new season we are confronted by uncertainty, fear and anxiousness, which might lead us to try to control any little thing we can. For the past two years this desperation of mine to have control has been met with Christ’s instruction and promise in Matthew 6:30-33.
“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat, or what will we drink, or what will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Perhaps my desire for control is a lack of faith, failing to trust that the Lord truly knows all that I practically need on this earth. That is the promise! God knows and He provides in full according to His will.
This promise of provision is found all throughout scripture. Psalm 23 – the Lord leads, restores and guides us so we lack nothing. “My cup overflows.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 – in the face of uncertainty and forthcoming affliction, He abundantly comforts us. Psalm 55:22 – as challenges surely arise, He bears the weight of our burdens. God provides more than we think we need by offering restoration and direction, taking total control of our lives and sustaining us.
The instruction in Matthew then is simple: Seek God above all things. Intentionally pursue God’s presence and the work which He has set before you!
As we enter into this new school year, and perhaps a new season of life, let us not forget that the Lord has a unique design and intention for it. That said, there is nothing that can undermine what the Lord has purposed. Let us walk in faithfulness actively seeking the Lord’s work in our lives, relinquishing control and resting in His promise of provision.