Seek ye first the Kingdom of God

In the sixth chapter of Matthew, he talks about not worrying ourselves with posesions nor our physical needs, but seeking first the Kingdom of God and he will provide us with the rest.

Nine months ago, if someone had told me that my Christian family extended beyond the United States, I would have believed them, but I would not have comprehended. In August, I began my journey into what was unknown to me and to meet Brothers and Sisters in Christ that I always believed were praising our Lord in other parts of the World, but had never had the opportunity to witness for myself. I was going to a country where I knew absolutely no one. As a human, and a sinner, I worried about how I would be welcomed, if I would fit in and how I would communicate. I worried about everything. Although, I knew this Bible passage, it did not keep me from worrying.

I never would have expected that I would receive such a warm welcome from a country of strangers, but the instant I stepped off the boat, I was greeted with a wide smile and a warm hug from two people that would continue to accompany me throughout the year in ways I hadn’t imagined. At that moment, I knew that God had not followed me from the United States to Uruguay, but he had been here and there and in every part of the World this whole time. For me, the term “Kingdom of God” became much more immense and would continue to expand and be evident in the months to come.

Many of my worries faded with the warm welcomes I received. As my worries faded and I grew more comfortable with the language, my worries changed to comfort and then to love for my new Brothers and Sisters. The country where I knew nobody is now a country that I will now consider my second home and always remember the Love that was shown to me. Through the months here, I found a new meaning to the 33^rd verse of the 6^th chapter of Matthew.

I will always be a human -- making mistakes, finding things to worry about and trying to do things myself. But it brings me great comfort that God knows me better than I know myself and loves me the same. He loves every being the same, even though we sometimes forget to seek first the Kingdom of God.