"Do Not Worry About Tomorrow..."

The twisted hypocrisy of the statement really hit me today; as I led a small group of high school guys, I gave this verse out when the issue of anxiety came up. Matthew 6:34 "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

I was given this same verse as advice quite recently, and in the same conversation told that I need to have the 2014-2015 school year planned out for the church calendar.

whaaat?

and it clicked; that same kid that I told that to is going to go home and be told to work on something that will pay off in 4 years when he graduates, to go on to a college because they prioritized a sport/music/theater in hopes of scholarships and placement.

and it doesn't work. not for me, and not for these kids.

So, Christians, how do we rectify this paradox? How do we teach the Biblical words of Jesus to "Seek first the Kingdom of God" without then turning around and encouraging them to push their faith to the side while they prioritize some way of paying for college? Have we forgotten how that verse ends? "...and all these other things will be provided to you."

I seem to have forgotten them. I either deal with crisis after crisis as they appear while not having much of a vision for the future, or I plan out the long run and have sleepless nights as I consider that situations may have changed so much by then that it is all moot planning and I have to do crisis control again.

So my prayer, my request, my petition to God is that I will learn His way - not man's - of living in the present of His gifts of Grace, Life, and Abundance. and that I can pass this on to the young men and women who are within my sphere of influence, to the Glory of God and His salvation.