Sermon Lessons: Carefree

^30-33"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."

(Matthew 6:30-33)

I had never really considered the fact that most of the wildflowers in the world go completely unnoticed by human eye.  They spring forth from the hard soil of the earth, struggle against the elements, bloom in all their majesty, and no one ever sets an eye on them!  Then there are the potted flowers I buy from the nursery with high hopes they will adorn my flowerbeds long enough to give me a little enjoyment through the milder seasons in Arizona.  I barely get them planted, stand back and admire my work, then watch them fade away!

What are the differences between the wildflowers and the ones planted in my garden?  Well, first of all, it is who is doing the planting and caring for them!  One is completely God's handiwork - the other is a local nursery worker, followed by me, then left to the fate of the sprinkler system and sun!  No wonder God's do so much better than mine!  Yet, that is not the only difference between the two.  There is also the fact that one is deliberately planted to bring God joy - the other is planted to bring only me joy!

That wildflower, bending with the gentle breezes, in the meadow, or tucked gently into a crag on the side of a cliff, has been placed exactly where they are by the hand of our Creator God.  They enjoy their placement because it has been designed by God.  I doubt if that wildflower on the side of the cliff says to itself, "I wish I was in the meadow" and then bemoans its "fate" of being on the majestic cliff!  Yet, how many times do we "bloom" where we have been planted only to complain about our "planting"?

The fact is that God plants us where we will bloom best!  In his perfect wisdom, he plants us - some in meadows, others in seeming "aloneness" in the "crags" of life.  Yet...in our perfect position we have the true honor of bringing God joy.  It is when we understand that we are not placed to bring ourselves joy that we truly begin to enjoy where we are "planted".  It is there that we can begin to be "carefree" - allowing God to soak up the beauty of our lives as he designed it!

You may not be noticed by the masses, but God has his eyes constantly directed toward you.  You never escape his watchfulness.  He sees your struggle to get your "head above the hard soil" of life.  He knows how you will "fit in" with the "environment" where you have been planted.  He encourages your growth with "gentle storms" and "forming winds".  He opens you to fullness of beauty with the warmth of his radiance, much as the sun does for the wildflower in the field.

It is in being "carefree" that we truly become aware of how much we are "cared for" and watched over.  In blooming exactly where we have been planted, we bring much joy to the one who has planted us exactly where we are!