There are a few days in this series when I just want to share some quotes from Richard J. Foster. Today’s one of those days. 🙂 I apologize up front because I have quoted more today than I’ve written. Thanks for your grace.
On Monday, I had a mini faith crisis about a small group I am in. Remember how I told you in the beginning to silence the voices of condemnation to heed the Spirit? Well, I had forgotten to do that within my group. And something invaded my thoughts as I stewed on why I was upset. I needed the message of Jesus to reign over my anxious thoughts and concerns. I was anxious until I rested in who He was and what He has done and is continuing to do for me now. Once I spoke Jesus into my heart, the peace that passes all understanding pushed the noise and anxiety away, and the wrestling was over.
As I was reviewing my outline and thinking about what I was planning to write for today, I read the following from “Celebration of Discipline.” I thought I would share more than I at first planned to share from the book because it so very well related to my anxiety from my small group.
Nothing must come before the kingdom of God, including the desire for a simple life-style.
Simplicity itself becomes idolatry when it takes precedence over seeking the kingdom. In a particularly penetrating comment on this passage of Scripture, Soren Kierkegaard considers what sort of effort could be made to pursue the kingdom of God. Should a person get a suitable job in order to exert a virtuous influence? His answer: no, we must first seek God’s kingdom. Then should we give away all our money to feed the poor? Again the answer: no, we must first seek God’s kingdom. Well, then perhaps we are to go out and preach this truth to the world that people are to seek first God’s kingdom? Once again the answer is a resounding: no, we are first to seek the kingdom of God. Keirkegaard concludes, “Then in a certain sense it is nothing I shall do. Yes, certainly, in a certain sense it is nothing, become nothing before God, learn to keep silent; in this silence is the beginning, which is, first to seek God’s Kingdom.
Focus upon the kingdom produces the inward reality, and without the inward reality we will degenerate into legalistic trivia. Nothing else can be central. The desire to get out of the rat race cannot be central, the concern for ecology cannot be central. Seeking first God’s kingdom and the righteousness, both personal and social, of that kingdom is the only thing that can be central in the Spiritual Discipline of simplicity.
The person who does not seek the kingdom first does not seek it at all. Worthy as all other efforts may be, the moment they become the focus of our efforts they become idolatry. To center on them will inevitably draw us into declaring that our particular activity is Christian simplicity.
He of course goes on to develop his thought saying, “freedom from anxiety is one of the inward evidences of seeking first the kingdom of God…Freedom from anxiety is characterized by three inner attitudes.” In Matthew 6, just 8 verses prior to Jesus saying that we need to seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness, He says, “Do not be anxious about your life.”
A List from Foster: Three Inner Attitudes
- To receive what we have as a gift from God. “We work but we know that it is not our work that gives us what we have…What we have is not the result of our labor, but of the gracious care of God.”
- To know it is God’s business, not ours, to care for what we have.
- To have our goods available to others.
While Foster is writing these three things about possessions, I think it is applicable over all God’s blessings in our lives. This inward reality is exactly what I needed in regards to my small group questions, and when I sought the Kingdom, He provided an answer, soul peace, and calm from the anxiety.
This week Daniel was out-of-town Sunday through yesterday. He doesn’t travel often, but I can say that in the past, it might have made me anxious, maybe even resentful for the tediousness of it. I consider us true teammates when it comes to parenting. In the spirit of “no,” I can say that I have embraced my calling and work as a mother in a new way. The tension is gone – I have mellowed. I know I can’t do it all at once, so I just do whatever I do for Him. I got up earlier, stayed up later, and slept little while my hubby was gone, but I was comfortable in my tasks. Happy. Even when one of my kids had a breakdown and didn’t want to do homework, I noticed a new work in me – freedom from the anxiety of motherhood and how I will do it. Why? Because I have received my role as a gift, and I know He’s caring for me and my kids in the midst of the nitty-gritty work. Even in tomorrow’s post about blogging, which I wrote two weeks ago, I sense I new spirit of freedom.
Photo Credit: Sharon Mollerus
this is so incredibly liberating to me, jamie.
“Nothing must come before the kingdom of God, including the desire for a simple life-style.”
thanks for the huge dose of Freedom in this one, friend.
Yay! I am so very glad. It was so freeing to me as well.