Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Should I Pack My Suit and Tie?

This week has been crazy. I found out on Thursday morning that one of the girls that lived in the Jubilee house (where Brittney and I lived in Boston this summer), was diagnosed with Leukemia. Brittney, myself, and the church have been praying for her healthy recovery, her name is Christina if you would like to pray as well. It is hard for me to think of one of my friends that I shared fun times with this summer now struggling for her life. Later that same day I found out that Brittney's grandpa needed to have quadruple bypass open heart surgery on Wednesday. Brittney called me that night really upset and I encouraged her to stay in Virginia at her friends wedding and then when she got back to Wisconsin we would go to Indiana. The next morning Brittney called me and told me that her Grandma had been put on life support and was in pretty bad condition. So I booked her a flight from Richmond, Virginia to Indianapolis for that night. It was a crazy Thursday and Friday. So I stayed in Wisconsin Saturday and Sunday and then left Monday to drive toward Indianapolis. As I was packing on Sunday night I thought to myself, "should I bring my suit and tie?" I don't know if this question is wrong to ask or wrong to think about, but I went to bed without packing it. I woke up that morning and packed my suit and tie in the truck of my car. I don't know if this is a lack of faith or trying to be prepared for whatever may happen. I feel like this weekend is opening a huge question I have been debating in my mind. Where is the line between faith and preparation? I mean take my 401k into account. Is it ok for me to prepare for the future and hoard money for the future when people in the world are dying of hunger and lack of medicine? When Jesus tells us not to worry in Luke 12 he specifically talks about how we might want to spend time planning our life and how it is useless. Jesus then goes on to say that the ravens don't sow and reap or have storeroom or barns, but God takes care of them. Then Jesus reminds us that we are much more important then ravens, implying that God will take care of us. I know this is a weird parallel to make, but I am really struggling with having a radical faith. A faith that says I am not going to plan for the worst. I mean what if God has this awesome plan to take care of me when I retire, but I get in the way of his plans with my own. I am not saying that I have the answers or that I shouldn't prepare. I just want to have a faith that is so sure of Gods hand in my life that I don't try to take care of myself but I allow Him to take care of me. Where is the line???

1 comment:

PaulKordon said...

Ok so here's a perspective for you...what if you do some moderate planning for the future, let's take retirement as an example, and God chooses to give that savings to someone else but then provides for you in a totally different and bigger way?

What I'm trying to say is that God knows our decisions before we make them. He knows that we may make a choice that "usurps his plan", as if we can really do that, but he is in the redemption business and makes good for you and Brit even out of your most faithless, fearful choices.

I think it takes more faith to have a 401k than not sometimes.