Keeping my Ducks in a Row

Ever since I can remember, I’ve lived by the principle of Matthew 6:33, to seek first the Kingdom of God. That verse was inscribed in our engagement rings (in Sweden the guy and the gal give each other engagement rings) and my husband and I practiced that principle. Time and again I marvel at how it works, which I shouldn’t, because it’s a natural cause and effect, just like the law of gravity. I still marvel every time. I am in awe of my Heavenly Father and how he cares for me.

Take the ducks, for instance, which showed up at my doorsteps in Florida. They faithfully arrived every day, quacking away their request for some bread. Jesus talked about the birds, how the Heavenly Father feeds them; then he told his disciples that we are worth much more. Even when we might be a nuisance (like I sometimes felt about the ducks), he continues to feed and care for us.

Ducks make a mess. You feed them; then they mess up the driveway; you clean the driveway; the ducks come back; you feed them again; and the cycle goes on. I would get annoyed at their quacking, especially at odd hours of the morning; but I still fed them. I’m sure my Father has gotten annoyed at me many times, but he still cares for me.

Not only ducks can annoy you, but so can keys! Especially when you have two or three locks on a door and you stand fumbling and wondering which key goes where. Here is an interesting idea to say good-bye to that annoyance. Color code them. My friends in Florida have used the traffic lights approach. The red is for the top lock, the green for the bottom. Not one time did I fumble at the door. I knew exactly what key to put in first.

Keeping my ducks in a row… I’m working hard on that. I have my ducks in a row; I have plans. The thing is keeping them there; it’s just as hard as trying to get a picture of ducks in a row. In the “house” business that is consuming my thoughts, it would be so much easier to just be a duck. I could walk the lawns down in Florida, have people feed me and clean up after me, and just worry about which house to visit next.

No, that’s not the kind of life I want, but it is sure taking a toll on me to work on the issue of my house. I’m now putting the house in the hands of a property manager to get it rented. By the way, it seems to be just as difficult to get a renter as a buyer. There is a Swedish expression —fågelfri— about being free as a bird. Even in the midst of all the detail I have to think about, I can be “fågelfri”.

“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? Look 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matt 6:25-27).

I think I’ll color code my “worries”! I’ll mark the biggest ones with red, like the light on the traffic light that tells me STOP! My ducks in a row still match Matthew 6:33. I’ll go on doing my best for the Kingdom and my Father will see to it that the “best” happens with these material concerns I have.

Do you have your ducks in a row? The best way to keep them there is to practice Matthew 6:33. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

I wish you a worry-free day! Why not take God up on his promise of casting all our cares on him? “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). That’s the surest way to get your ducks in a row and keep them there!

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34