Humbled by God's priorities

Today I met a theological giant. I was in downtown Poulsbo sitting on a bench, relishing the sunlight. A man plopped down next to me, placed his BIG bag in his lap and proceeded to loudly exclaim "Its colder then the snow on Rudolf’s antlers." I smiled and looked over at his face. His cheeks were bright pink and it was obvious he'd been outside for some time.

In October I learned to crochet because I wanted to be able to give cold people warm things to wear. I call my mission, hats for the homeless. The mission has caught on with several different people and thus far we have created close to a hundred hats. I always keep a few hats in my car and a few hats in my backpack and when I see someone who looks like they could use a hat...I give them one...no strings attached.

Anyway, I asked the man if he'd like a fresh warm hat to wear and he jumped on the opportunity. He pushed his BIG bag off of his lap and said, "Sometimes you gotta lay your stuff down to focus on what’s important." Then he placed his new hat on his head.

For some reason, his statement stuck in my head all day long. My life is nuts! It’s finals week, I have a Christmas pageant on Sunday, I have kids that need attention, and work is crazy too. I have a lot of stuff in my life. Then again, everybody has stuff. Maybe "stuff" is material possessions, or challenging issues, or a schedule that will not quit. But you gotta lay your stuff down, to be able to focus on what’s really important.

In the Bible Jesus says, "So don't worry. Don't say, 'What will we eat?' Or, 'What will we drink?' Or, 'What will we wear?' People who are ungodly run after all of those things. Your Father who is in heaven knows that you need them. But put God's kingdom first. Do what he wants you to do. Then all of those things will also be given to you" (Matthew 6:31-33).

I had this epiphany. God doesn’t want us to worry because when we worry, we can’t focus our energy on doing what God wants us to do. We gotta lay our stuff down to focus on what’s important. And what’s really important is putting God first in our hearts and in our lives.