I struggle a lot with apathy…or at least I thought it was apathy. I didn’t understand why so much was going on in my life, but I didn’t seem really effected by it. My heart hurt, but I wasn’t reacting the way that I used to, the way I thought I should. I was getting lazy towards the amount of time I spent with God, lazy getting into His Word. I thought I was a horrible Christian. When I asked God to break me, I was hoping that it would be a way for Him to break me out of my apathy. But, as you read in my last post, Him breaking me realized how much trust I had in Him! Which made me think, was I apathetic, or just completely trusting that He had my back? Was my apathy not apathy, but faith?
25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
This shows us that faith is when you trust in the Lord so much, that you don’t worry and don’t care about what is going on around you. It can be mistaken for apathy in that you aren’t overly emotional about your heartaches. You aren’t over-dramatizing things. You aren’t constantly thinking about hardships. Faith is when you give it up to God and believe that He can take care of you when you can’t see the end results of hurts and struggles…knowing that He is sovereign and understanding over your situation. Fully trusting in Him. Is that hard? Heck yes. Is it apathy? Heck no. Not worrying about something is not automatically apathy. I understand that now.
Apathy is not caring, but Faith is letting God take care.
Heather Lea Kenison 