For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. | Matthew 6:32–34
On Sunday, we began our Holy Week celebrations with a sermon on the triumphal entry, titled: freedom from the world. The sermon focused on how Jesus was concerned with much bigger issues, and offered much bigger solutions, than we are looking for. This is nothing new. In the first century, the Hebrew people had expectations of the Messiah: hopes of what He would accomplish. They had an idea of how Jesus could answer their problems. These preconceived notions made it impossible for them to see Jesus for who He truly was.
Our expectations have the same effect. Every one of us has struggles in our life. We are facing health related problems, financial issues, relational tensions; not to mention different levels of fear, anxiety and depression. Life is hard. We have very real problems that need to be fixed. Sometimes, these problems make us blind everything outside of our scope. Andrew put it this way on Sunday:
You see real problems – but you have blinders on – you are not thinking big enough.
I love this quote. Too often, we are forced to choose between two options: that our problems aren’t real or that they are ultimate. Life is either about overcoming our problems or imagining them away. Western thought tends to focus on the first, while Eastern thought obsesses over the second. Christianity calls us to both acknowledge the depth of our suffering and to recognize that we are limited when it comes to finding solutions. Our problems are heavy, but they are just a small part of what is going on.
The image of blinders helps us to understand this. It isn’t that what you are seeing isn’t real, but what you aren’t seeing is real as well. There is a whole world of issues, but also hope and joy that we are missing.
The therapeutic answer to this would be: take off the blinders. This denies the limitations that God created in us. As human beings, we are not able to overcome our blind spots. We do not have the capacity to know how all things fit together. We will have blinders, no matter what we do.
Our response should be to acknowledge the blinders. In humility, accepting that what we see is just a small piece of the whole. What we want as solutions may help us but do nothing for the problems we don’t see. This makes the world much bigger and the problems more complex than what we want to believe.
But this also opens us up to the need for a Savior. If we can’t solve our problems and we can’t overcome our limitations, then redemption can only come from outside of us. We need someone greater than our limitations to act in a way that works all things together for good. We can then look to Jesus, not to solve our idea of the problem, but to reshape how we imagine the process of restoration.
As we take this week to reflect on the gospel – how God entered into human form, took on the sin of the world, was crucified as a propitiation, and rose to declare authority over every part of this world – allow it to help you both acknowledge your blinders and to place your hope more fully in His bigger plan. Jesus isn’t content to just save you from temporary suffering, but to save you to eternal joy. When we seek His kingdom, we can be sure that we gain more than what we can figure out. By placing our trust in His capable and loving hands, the things of this world do not get the final say. One day, we will exist with the blinders off, seeing His glory completely.