As the Grass Grows, So Can Our Faith

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span? And why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:25-34 NASB

Although we may not like to admit it, the truth is that we all struggle with worry and anxiety in our lives, and because of this our faith in God can be weakened. This is because there will always be outcomes in life so desirable, that we cannot stand to live without them, and outcomes so undesirable that we cannot stand to live with them.

Sometimes we can worry about something trivial that seems unimportant to others, like getting a piece of clothing that is on sale before it is sold out. Other times we can worry about something important to everyone, such as having the money to feed our family and pay the rent.

God knows that it is in our nature to worry and become anxious about various situations in our lives. He also knows that our worries and anxieties can take our attention away from Him. To draw our attention back to Him, He first draws our attention to the nature of grass and asks us to consider this important truth: for as long as there is grass in the field it will grow.

When I look out of my study window, I can see the grass and the weeds in my front yard and in the neighbours across the street. Their growth is entirely outside of my control. However, how I choose to respond to their growth is.

I can choose when I mow my lawn, or pull the weeds out in my garden, or whether I want to spray them with weed killer instead. I can even choose to go to the extreme of concreting my whole garden so that I never have to deal with the weeds or grass again. This wouldn’t change the fact that they would continue to grow in my neighbour's front yard.

Because no matter how hard we desire or try to influence a certain outcome, there are some situations in life which are entirely outside of our control.

Which is why God asks us to consider another important truth: for as long as there needs to be grass in the field, He will make it grow.

When I look out my study window towards my neighbour's front yard, I’m often greeted with the sight of kangaroos eating the grass. God knows that kangaroos need grass to eat, and likewise He knows what we need as well.

God wants us to see that He makes the grass grow and accept that there are things in life that are outside of our control, and that its okay, because they are entirely within His control, and He knows what we need and when we need them.

Which is why God asks us to consider one final truth: the grass will grow at the rate that it needs to grow.

It takes time for grass to grow. If there is no grass for the kangaroo to eat, it goes to where there is grass for it to eat.

In life, we can become focused on a particular outcome to the point that we forget that sometimes it takes time for it to occur. Grass will always grow, sometimes we just need to go do something else while it does. I have yet to see someone stand in their front yard with a lawn mower day after day waiting for the grass to grow sufficiently to mow it. Yet, there are some outcomes in life we become so fixated on, we stand over them waiting for them to occur. God knows what we need in life, and His provision will come, sometimes we need to be patient in waiting for it to come.

God draws our attention to grass so that we can understand that He is in control. He does so in the hope, that as the grass grows, so can our faith.

Because what is within our control is how we respond to the grass growing in our lives. I can look at my front lawn and become frustrated that once again the lawn needs to be mowed. Or I can choose to accept that the grass grows and plan to mow my lawn every fortnight. If it rains on the day I choose to mow my lawn, I can choose to become angry, or I can accept that I have no control over the weather and make a different plan.

We can influence our tomorrows, but we can’t control them. What we can control is how we respond in the present.

Every day we can choose to let our emotions and thoughts get the better of us, or we can choose to take control of them and place our faith in God and accept that He is in control and patiently wait for His provision.

We sometimes forget that faith is a choice. We must choose to place our trust and confidence in God.

Acceptance is also a choice; we must choose to accept what is within our control and what is not. To live our lives in faith means consciously choosing to do so throughout our days.

This is not an easy thing to do, and it takes practice, but it’s what God asks us to do when we are worried or anxious. Because He knows that if we do this, just as the grass grows, so will our faith in Him and our worries and anxieties will diminish.

Reflection

Reflect on a time in your life when your faith was the strongest. What values were you living out and how were you living them out? What can you do to start living them out like this again?

Prayer

Father God, open my heart to see that you are active in the world that you created. Help me to observe everyday how things grow and change. Not by my hand, but by yours. Help me to see that you are active in my world, growing and changing me day by day.

Affirmation

God is active in my life, growing and changing me to become everything He created me to be.

Action

Picture yourself a year ago and observe what has changed. Give thanks to God for this. Now identify a habit or behaviour that you wanted to change a year ago that you are still doing. Over the past year, what has this habit or behaviour cost you? If you were to continue it for another year, what would cost you? Ask yourself is it worth the cost? Make a plan for change today.