Wednesday, January 26, 2011 - Be Careful What You Wish For

Red poppies grow as common weeds
in fields and along roadsides throughout Europe. 

     King Midas, of Greek mythology, was a good man who worried about the economic problems of his small kingdom. When the god Dionysius offered him one wish, Midas didn't hesitate: "Let everything I touch turn to gold." Before granting the wish, Dionysius asked, "Are you sure?" Instead of taking the hint and thinking through the pros and cons, Midas quickly assured the god this was his final answer and his wish was granted. 
     At first, Midas enjoyed using his "magic touch" to turn trifles into pure gold: bowls of fruit, knick-knacks throughout his palace, and even his chariot. When the dinner bell rang, however, the king discovered he didn't have as  much of a "taste" for gold as he had thought. Most tragically, he embraced his daughter into a gold statue. Fortunately for Midas and his household, Dionysius took the wish-curse away at the king's teary request.  
     Jesus asked the people sitting on the mountainside "Why do you insist on touching everything in life with worry?" He instructed them to look around to see how God dressed the grass on the mountain with wildflowers. He shocked them by labeling "worry" as a pagan practice that had no place in their lives as children of a loving Father. 
     What would Jesus say to us about worry if we gathered around Him on a flower-strewn mountainside? "Why do you worry about the world's list of must-haves? Why do children of our loving Father insist on having higher salaries, newer styles, upgraded gadgets, sleeker transportation, bigger televisions, higher status, and grander homes?  Don't you have enough faith to live gratefully and happily with what God has given you? Haven't you learned that worry and striving curse the simplest situations into self-imposed burdens?  I'm telling you the truth: you'll only know true joy and satisfaction when you stop chasing down temporary treasures and start striving after your Father's Righteousness. When you touch every need with faith in His loving care, He'll meet your needs from the inside out and your testimony will shine brighter than the purest gold."


Father, develop a hunger in us for Your Will and Your Righteousness above everything else. Your Will is perfect and freeing. Your Will teaches us to think outside our selfishness. Forgive us when we act like pagans who wring their hands worrying about what will happen and when it will happen. You are Almighty God who dots the dark sky with stars and the wet sand with shells. You hung flowering fruits on trees and cascading waterfalls in canyons. You designed the trees to change colors. You bring the soft snow and cause it to drip into crystal icicles. You fill our lives with beautiful blessings we fail to "see" because we're blinded by worry. Teach us to know You better so we trust You more in every way. Make us righteous and free us from the self-defeating curse of worry. 


"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe  you, O you of little faith?" Matthew 6:28-30


Inspired by My Utmost for His Highest
Photo by Robin Noland, Field of wildflowers in Monte Cassino Italy