Headline News: will herd immunity be successful in the US, non-stop political mayhem from the White House to the Governor’s mansion, mounting racial tension, mass shootings, discussions around police reform, the list goes on.
Then, there’s our personal story. What’s going on in your world? The doom and gloom of the news and our own realities can cloud our vision, creating anxiety and fear.
Yet, The Lord says to me, to you, and to every believer, consider the lilies. (Luke 12:27) Consider - fix your mind on, with a view to a careful examination; think on with care; ponder; study; meditate on, yes, consider the lilies. (KJV dictionary definition of consider) Consider that lilies are beautifully clothed by God and are here today and gone tomorrow. Yet God in His infinite wisdom takes time to beautifully adorn flowers.
You are more important to God than the lilies. Every morning He pours beauty upon you in the form of new mercies and sufficient grace. He adorns you, not with anxiety and fear, but with beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. (Isaiah 61:3)
Isaiah said I will sing for joy in God, explode in praise from deep in my soul! He dressed me up in a suit of salvation, he outfitted me in a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom who puts on a tuxedo and a bride a jeweled tiara. (Isaiah 61:10 Msg)
God secured our beauty in Jesus who was beaten beyond recognition and died that we would have abundant, yes beautiful lives. Now we get to display His beauty, His glory, His splendor, His power and His love to mankind.
Consider the lilies. But also consider that God is even more mindful of you. He instructed you to cast your cares upon Him for He cares for you.(1Peter 5:7) He’s the only One who can work every detail you’re concerned about into something beautiful. That beautiful something He’s working out is you.
Consider the lilies and know that people are watching. They are considering loving God based upon the beauty they see in you!
For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
(Isaiah 61:11)