Luke 12; Matthew 5, 6, and 7; Philippians 1:1-20

This morning was heavier than usual, I suppose. I started off like always in Luke, all of chapter 12, and then re-read (3 times total now) the Sermon on the Mount, and then proceeded in Philippians.



What stuck out to me this morning I first found in Luke, then in Matthew, and it was confirmed again in Philippians. Picking up in Luke 12:22:



"22 And he said to his disciples, 'For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor worry for your body, as to what you put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! 25 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life's span? 26 If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?'"



Now, I'm a worrier. In case you didn't now that, I am. Not exactly a worry wart, that would be my precious little sister, but I do have the incredible tendency to build up ridiculously false scenarios in my mind, thus torturing myself for hours on end until the truth hits the fan. At this point, I usually realize that nothing I worried about ever came true. So when I read this verse, I feel like it's speaking to me. Maybe it is, but here's how I unpacked it earlier this morning.

To make what could be a long story short, my boss and my fellow intern at church and work have a very good relationship, unique to anything else I see there. Nowhere do I find such a sense of camaraderie between Minister and Intern at FBC Belton. But, because he is also my boss, a lot of the times I feel completely left out.

But this morning when I read Luke 12:24"Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!" and Matthew 7:11, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!" something inside me just went nuts.

I realized that they have a relationship that I will never know, but that is okay. God has given to them the good gift of their relationship with one another, and that is for them to enjoy and for me to NOT covet. When I am wanting something God has not given me, then I am not wanting something God has given me. That is not to say that God does not want me to have a good relationship with my boss or my fellow intern, but that I should not be jealous of their relationship, and I should not hold anything against either of them because they get along so well. Now again, that is not to say that I am keeping score against them or am mounting my counter-attack on their relationship, but just that I should rejoice for them because they have found each other, and I believe that is what God has intended for them.

For me? I have incredible relationships with incredible students in and out of the college ministry of FBC Belton that they will never have. Not that they can't, but that God has allowed me to have these relationships and they are mine. There are some overlaps in our circles, but I should have as much reason to rejoice in my relationship with some of these other students, as they should in their relationship with each other, and as I should in their relationship with each other.

Maybe this is a bit lengthy, maybe this is a bit wordy and thus confusing, but I have reached a major breakthrough and crossed a major barrier between me and doing my God given job better. I'm happy, I'm rejoicing.



Thank you God, for feeding the ravens, and for giving me a gift.