Thursday, August 14, 2008

The Greatest Attribute

I have a great deal of respect for a good friend of mine. He has gone through a number of trials recently. A few months ago, he was let go from his job that he absolutely loved. This was not due to poor performance or bad relationships. It was simply because the economy is bad in Michigan and the company he was working for lost a few major contracts. This friend has a wife and kids, and he is the sole "bread winner" for his family. About the same time, his church started experiencing problems. Families were leaving the church for many differing reasons.

One might look at his situation, (myself probably included,) and think, "what a great deal of stress that man must be feeling." Yet, every time I talk to him, he simply tells me, "God will take care of me and my family."

Mind you, I have looked up to this friend since High school. He's always done everything and been everything that I've wanted to do and be. Once again, he's become something that I want to be. You see, I'm a bit of a whiner sometimes. When life does not go the way I want it to go, I cry out to God, "why did you let this happen to me?" That's not the way this friend is handling his trial. He simply keeps telling me, "God will take care of me and my family."

Then, last Sunday, the preacher delivers this quote:

"Faith is the single most important attribute a man can possess. Accomplishments and notoriety are like dust in the wind. They can be blown away in a moment, but a solid foundation built on faith will last forever."

And the this:
"“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." --Matthew 6:25-34