I had a discussion with a doctor about hemoglobin. He told me that a healthy body produces 13 or more hemoglobin but studies found that adults can live healthily with as little as 10 hemoglobin. He said, I don’t understand why the body produces so much hemoglobin. I said, “Because God is extravagant. He created us in His image. We produce more than we need.”
I believe in the extravagance of God! As I sit writing this, with a picturesque view of the mountains before me, birds serenading me in the background, I am in awe of God’s extravagance. He generously gives to His children.
So why worry?
That is the theme of my scripture reading this morning. Is not the same God who spoke the mountains into existence, caused beaches to form, situated the sun to give us enough heat to sustain but not enough to destroy, the same God who holds my tomorrow?
When I look at the world through the lenses of my abilities and my resources, the world looks chaotic. Tomorrow seems scary. There is a video circulating that predicts impending danger and the advice is to store up treasure on this earth. That sounds wise until you read the words of Jesus in Luke 12. He exhorts us to store up treasure in heaven and not to worry about tomorrow.
When I look at the world through the lenses of God’s extravagance, I am at peace knowing the same God whose eye is on the sparrow, is the same God who watches over me. The same God who hid gold in the earth simply for aesthetics, is the same God who can supply all of my needs. The same God who did not spare His own son but gave Him up for me, is the same God who will generously give me all things.
When I view the world through God’s extravagance, the world seems less chaotic, tomorrow more secure. The same God who designed my body to produce more hemoglobin than needed, who provided a free extended weekend to behold his beauty, and sent his birds to serenade me is the same God who holds my tomorrow. Why should I worry?
“If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Luke 12:28-32 NKJV