Consider the Lilies.

I know everyone has heard the saying, “The first step is to admit you have a problem.” Well, I will just go ahead and admit one of my many problems. I am a worrier. My mother would be quick to call me a worry wart, but I do not really care for that term. Even so, I have come to realize I worry about anything and everything. 

I worry about things that are important. I worry about my husband, especially when he is biking around town at 5:00 in the morning. I worry about my sister when she is alone, even though she lives two blocks up the street. I worry about my mom and dad because I do not see them as often as I used to. I worry about my future children and if I am going to be a capable parent. I worry about the little souls I have been entrusted to teach. I worry about my dog, who I often have to leave at home during the day. I worry about America. I worry about the world we live in. I worry about my past mistakes. I worry about today. I worry about what the future holds. I worry about the unknown. I worry. 

I worry about not-so important things. I worry about what I am going to wear each time I have to decide on an outfit. I worry about the sound my dryer makes when I start drying a load of clothes. I worry about what will break next on or in our house. I worry about what others think of me. I worry if the color green will be okay for my classroom walls. I worry about the strange nightmares that I have. I worry about getting sick by touching public door handles and such. I worry about my car getting hit by a buggy in the Walmart parking lot. I worry about the kittens that live in my neighbor's backyard. I worry about my obsession of worrying. I worry.

I would dare to say, one could call me anxious. Sometimes my worry and anxiousness cause a few rough sleeps within a week. Sometimes my worry causes me to have even worse nightmares, to be a bit irritated towards others, or to just sit down and cry. My anxiousness leads me to try to fix things that are not even broken, to say things I would not normally say, and worst of all, to depend on myself.

In worrying and anxiousness, I say I do not trust the God of all time—eternity past, present, and eternal future—to take care of me; I say I trust in my own brainstorming, wild imagination, and silly thoughts to have appropriate preparations and plans for every what-if in my life. Instead of allowing the God who makes sure the sun rises each morning and the stars come out each night to guide me today and tomorrow, I decide that thinking up millions of solutions to hypothetical problems that have a very slim chance of even occurring is somehow better. I choose to trust in myself rather than the One who actually holds the whole world in His hands.

“Consider the lilies” is a phrase from a well-known passage of Scripture. I can honestly say I do not remember the first time I heard or read it. I just remember being young and forever being enamored with that lone phrase within the passage.

The two passages where the phrase is found in Scripture are entitled in most Bible versions as “Do Not Be Anxious.” In Luke's account, Jesus is speaking and says: Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!

I love flowers. Oh, I love them! I even love flowers that some people may call weeds. I love receiving them as gifts, picking Indian paintbrushes out in the pasture every spring, and now, growing them in front of my own house. My mom is the complete opposite, which probably fueled my delight in flowers all the more because they were such a rare sight growing up. She never planted flowers, never welcomed them as gifts, and definitely was never found picking weeds out in the field.

Mom does not care for flowers because of how quickly they die. And I should share, the flowers my husband took care of in our garden last year flourished and were splendid. The ones I was supposed to take over this season have “been thrown into the oven.” Each bloom of a flower, no matter where at, no matter how long it lasts, is truly awe-inspiring. This Scripture says that even Solomon, known for his great wisdom and wealth, was not as well off as a lily bloom, even if only in the field for a day. Yet, God takes even more care of us. Oh, me of little faith!

As often as I struggle with worry, I thank God that He has never-ending patience with me and tucks such a simple phrase down deep in my soul that He uses to comfort me in the most chaotic times. Coming home to a vase of flowers that my husband surprised me with tells me that God has everything under His sovereign control. Seeing the few (and even fewer) flower blooms in front of my house that have survived my lack of watering and the summer heat is a small reminder of the care Christ has for me. Driving through the country, and my breath being taken away by a pasture full of spectacular weeds is His precious way of saying to me, “I know everything that you need. Seek after Me and I will take care of all your worries. Fear not, Madison, for it is My pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

When I am consciously seeking after His face, His glory, His Kingdom, none of my worries really matter. Sure, it is and will continue to be an ongoing battle and process to keep my eyes on Christ or to look around at all the things that are not right or the multiple things that could go wrong. What a sweet, sweet joy it is to become aware that I do not have to worry about any of the important or not so important things that life contains. Because of what Christ has done and what God promises, I can look at a flower bloom and realize my freedom to chase after Him wholeheartedly without any fear, reservation, or worry. I strongly desire to always consider the lilies.

“Consider the Lilies”

Consider the lilies: they don’t toil or spin, and there’s not a king with more splendor than them. Consider the sparrow: they don’t plant or sow, but they are fed by the Master, who watches them grow.

May I introduce you to this Friend of mine, who hangs out the stars and tells the sun when to shine? He kisses the flowers each morning with dew, but He’s not too busy to love me and you.

We have a Heavenly Father above with eyes full of mercy and a heart full of love. He really cares when your head is bowed low. Consider the lilies, and then you will know.

"And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Luke 12:22-32.