I can’t help but stare at professional lawnmowers while they work. The smooth glide of their machine over freshly mown grass is mesmerizing to watch, as they flow back and forth with the expertise of a skilled painter with a brush on canvas.
I’m not referring to the walk behind push mowers that many of us have used throughout our lives, but the stand behind machines where the person is perched on a floating platform. I wonder how difficult it must be to find the sweet spot of equilibrium and also navigate the variety of bumps and dips in the varied yards on your daily assignment. How often do they have to adapt their stance in the moment? Are there times when they anticipate being thrown off-kilter by what they see coming? Every cutting assignment is different, but each one employs the full set of geometric skills necessary to create straight lines and pull off the zero turn radius.
Many days, our lives can mirror this kind of balancing act. We are zipping from place to place and encounter a whole variety of bumps and dips, as we seek the sweet spot in our work and rest and play. We try to anticipate what is coming next, but are often surprised by the hard situations and conversations which come our way. We attempt to keep calm and steady, but the imbalance throws us off center.
We try not to fall down. We hope that we don’t “crash and burn.” We work diligently to balance the full spectrum of our lives – where we’ve been, where we find ourselves now, and where we’re heading – but can’t do it. Failing over and over, it is easy for us to become overwhelmed. Like the bubble in between the lines on a level, we believe that we have to have to be in a certain place to be right and true. No wonder anxiety, stress, and worry can begin to dominate the landscape of our lives.
Jesus spoke about this tension in his Sermon on the Mount as he launched into his public ministry. He saw people who were juggling home and family, public and private life, and all the other details of first century living. In offering a word of hope, he said, “Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:31-34 NIV).
As we cross the threshold of mid-summer, Jesus reminds us that God knows the desires of our hearts. Whatever we need today and tomorrow, God will care for us. We might feel unsteady as we wait for the future, but Jesus reminds us not worry. In Christ, we are given the capacity to respond to whatever comes our way.
Looking ahead,
Pastor Lowell