I remember coming up with a different way of doing something at work. An older colleague shouted out to everyone, “There you are. If you want to find the easiest way of doing something, always ask the laziest guy you can find!” Everyone laughed, as you would expect, but now when I think about it I realise that there is so much wisdom in his comment.
Too often we do things one way because they have always been done that way, or because no one has ever come up with a different way of doing them. Too often we do things out of habit, custom or in accordance with recognised procedures. Sometimes things never change until something goes horribly wrong doing it the old way. If we only looked at things differently, we might find a different way, a better way. We could look at them through the eyes of the lazy man or of the high-flyer and see an easier way.
If I looked at my life through someone else’s eyes I would probably get a shock when I saw how much time I have wasted doing things the wrong way. Maybe not, because we tend to be much the same with just a few different priorities, don’t we?
Jesus came to earth and looked at things differently, through eyes that weren’t just a man’s eyes: through eyes which had already seen the end from the beginning. He wasn’t a lazy man, but he could see that we all rush about wasting energy, time and worry. He could see that there is an easier way.
He tells us,
“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Â Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
“Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion – do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers – most of which are never even seen – don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” (Matthew 6:25-34, THE MESSAGE)
Looking at it that way, it’s all a bit easier, isn’t it? Relax!