Let me just say here that I think the Lion King has gotten it all wrong. Sitting in Bible study tonight gave me a whole new perspective on the worry issue. I needed one because I--like most, I imagine--am far from worry-free.
Take my friend, for example, who is moving out of her house in two weeks and a day...but has no idea where she is moving to. Or another friend who is facing job insecurity. Or another whose husband needs potentially life-saving surgery. Or yet another who has been going through scary tests on her 7-month old baby. And I won't even get started on all the worrying I've done the past three weeks. No worries?!? No way!
And yet the passage we read in Matthew chapter 6 seems to demand that very thing. "Why do you worry for your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink?" (verse 25). Uh, God, I worry cause I NEED that stuff! But instead He asks us to make a trade. Our troubles traded for complete trust. Our worries for His watchcare.
Sounds simple, until I think about watching my mom almost die. Hakuna matata seems to be based on lack of worry due to lack of care. If we love nothing, strive for nothing, seek nothing, then we have nothing to stress over. I however, love deeply, strive for more than I will possibly ever achieve, and seek reassurance over everything from the weather to the future. So do most of the people I know. It's why my girlfriend worries about my toddler falling down the stairs despite the fact that he lives in a tri-level house and mastered the art about half his life ago. She cares. And I don't want her to quit.
Hakuna matata sings out that care-free Caribbean concept that it will all turn out. "No problem, man." To me, though, God asks something so much deeper and harder. He asks that I trust Him enough with the things I do care about to let go of my attempts to control the outcome. To see His purpose for my pain. To trust in His provision for my problem. To seek His strength in the midst of the stress. This principle...well, command actually...is the direct opposite of laissez faire. Instead of a lack of restriction, God requires that we relinquish our requests and let Him rule. That we submit to His supremacy, even when we care deeply about His potential decision.
Honestly, the study went on for another several verses. I remain floored by the first. Does He realize how much faith He wants from me? Do I even believe in "letting go and letting God"? And yet, the question fills me: What did I do to make my mom breathe again? I prayed. Oh, how I prayed! But I was powerless. God holds our very breath and life in His hand. And hasn't He just proven how trustworthy He is? There is no way to live out the "do not worry" of Matthew 6 unless I daily practice the "walk by faith" of 2 Corinthians 5.
For me, and dare I suggest for any Christian, Hakuna Matata is a poor theme song indeed. Perhaps better suited is a much older song. This one goes:
When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea-billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say
It is well, It is well, With my soul.
Now that takes faith. To care deeply, love completely, and still yield. My mom's waking words remind me that having a faith free from worry rests on God alone. May He teach me gently how to live it!
"Be still, and know that I am God..."
--Psalm 46:10a
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