Comfort in a VUCA world
Our third encouragement comes to us in a VUCA world. The clever people who coined this phrase say that VUCA stands for: Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. (Some have suggested that the V can also stand for Violent.)There is evidence of this everywhere, in business, politics, relationships and even in the weather!
Volatility and Violence have us living on the edge the whole time. We find ourselves suspicious, fearful and distrustful with the feeling that there is no solid ground to stand on. This leads to Uncertainty that can gnaw at us and suck the marrow out of our backbones while Complexity and Ambiguity exhaust us and overload our brains and common sense gets thrown under the bus!
Jesus described the VUCA world that the early church would be born into. Christians were going to face the resistance of hardcore conservative Judaism and the harsh intolerance of the Roman Empire. He talks about how the disciples will be sheep among wolves, about how brother will turn against brother and the how the Christians will face persecution and violence and how they will need courage to stand up for what is right.
But He ends this description of a VUCA world with an incredibly beautiful picture of God's care for sparrows. In the birding community the acronym LBJ stands for "Little Brown Job" which is the catch-all phrase for those nondescript, unidentifiable, common place birdies that we're barely interested enough in to even identify them. Sparrows were the LBJ's of Palestine.
But Jesus points out that God is interested in them. And God is interested in us to the point that the hairs on our head are numbered.
In a VUCA world God is very aware of what we are going through. We don't always get to go around pain and heartache - sometimes we have to go through it. But God knows the intimate details and He is with us.
The overwhelming sense I get whenever I read this passage is that I am deeply and profoundly loved. I am worth more than many sparrows!
| Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew10:29-31) |
