Imagine, if you will, that you were a kite flying freely in the wind. In time, you would soon realize that there is a string tethering you to a specific spot on the ground. Oh to be free of that anchor so you can fly without restraint! However, as soon as that connection is lost, you will be nothing more than trash blowing in the wind, having no control of where to go.
Change, as they say, is the only constant in this life. Heraclitus has been given credit of creating this saying. As a philosopher in 500 BCE Greece, it is incredible to see the truth of that concept 2500 years later. There are so many ways that change can take place and over different lengths of time. How, then, do we live and work in an ever-changing world? Setting certain foundations help in coping with change, but what foundation is there that doesn't also change?
Thinking about it now, I think this might be part of what Jesus is getting at in Matthew 6:22-34. When we try to grab hold of, or place our faith in, things that we really have no control over, things that will ultimately change whether or not we want them to (or things that have already happened and we can't change), we begin to grow anxious and distracted from the real things of this world, from actually taking part in the Kingdom of God in the world around us. Jesus is not discounting the job of the farmer to gather the produce and crop, or in clothing for that matter, but rather the attachment (read: death grip) and focus we place on these variables. To combat this, Jesus states "seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Change is just one area that can cause anxiety and stress (though it may be the center of a lot of other stress causes; another perspective on this passage can be found in my earlier post entitled "Anxiety"), but I think the idea can still be applied to other areas.
When our foundation is the Truth of the Kingdom, we begin to grow in capacity of change. This can only really make sense if we accept and live in the Kingdom here and now as Jesus understood it. Paul somewhat re-phrases this in Philippians saying "whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, good,... dwell on these things" (4:8, paraphrase). When we dwell on these things, there is no other option but to see God, and when we see God, we have no choice but to see His Kingdom, here and now, in our lives. Allowing God's truth and Kingdom to be the foundation and structure of our lives allows us to live in a world of complete inconsistency and change. When we focus on and seek the Kingdom first, in all things (from finances to use of time), everything else seems to fall in place and "the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7, see also end of verse 9). Peace is the opposite and counter to anxiety and chaos (change without order).
Back to the kite analogy, it is because of the string that the kite is able to fly. The tension of the string with its foundation and the wind exerting its force will lift the kite. What are you investing in as your foundation?
"For God so loved the world, alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, that he sent his only son, reconciling you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach, that whoever believes in him, continuing in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moving away from the hope of the gospel, shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16 combined with Colossians 1:21-23)
