Land of the Worrying

I have always told people back home that post-grade life in D.C. is like living in “the land of the worrying.”

What if I never get the job I want? Who am I going to live with next year? Where and when am I going to meet someone? When will I go to graduate school? How do people afford their rent? What does my health insurance cover? Where am I going to find community? What should my prayer look like?

In today’s Gospel, Saint Andrew asks Jesus how five loaves of bread and two fish will feed everyone (see John 6:9). Every time I allow one of these worries to consume me, this is ultimately the question I am asking Jesus: how will there be enough?

In response to their questions, Jesus does not tell them how He will provide for them, but simply asks that everyone would recline. And while we often reflect on how wild it is that Jesus later multiplies the loaves and the fish, we never recognize how wild it is that five thousand men reclined instead of worrying.

Sister, those who were reclining received as much fish as their hearts desired. Let that cover you in protection—that you will not be left with less for choosing to rest in His providence instead of panicking, doubting, and orchestrating.

Our “land of the worrying” desperately needs a Church that will recline because her people know their God will not abandon them to scarcity. We are called to become women who respond to our lack by telling it, “my Father is a provider.” Our lives should testify out loud: "He has more than enough for me." By this, our “land of the worrying” is transformed into a “land of the living.”

I invite you to take a few minutes today to just recline in the midst of all that is undecided and unfinished. Speak truth over the circumstances in your life that are leading you to believe the Lord has forgotten about His promises.

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My Father is a provider. // @sarahericksonnClick to tweet

Jesus, You multiply loaves and fish on my behalf. There will be enough for me.