Whose Story Are You Living?
The sermon on March 8th was entitled “Aligning Your Story With God’s Story.” The speaker made the point that instead of trying to make God fit into our lives, we need to see how we fit in the story that God is writing on the pages of history.
A great verse for this idea is Matthew 6:33. Jesus said, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” In context Jesus means that if we seek God’s kingdom first, then God will see that our physical needs are taken care of.
In the previous verse Jesus says that it is the pagans – the idolaters – who seek after earthly wealth and comfort. As followers of Jesus we are to put our needs and wants second to the kingdom of God.
What does it mean to seek God’s kingdom first? Just previously n the same sermon, Jesus gave to his disciples the Lord’s Prayer in which we are instructed to pray “…your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” So, seeking God’s kingdom probably does not mean just that we seek God’s kingdom for ourselves, it means that we are to seek want God wants to further God’s plan in this world.
Of course, when we seek God’s will above our own, God promises to provide not only for our present basic needs, but also he will provide inestimable future wealth. As Jesus also says in the same sermon, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…”
It is how God operates: when we seek to live according to his story, he writes for us stories of unanticipated and indescribable beauty.