the unfolding of lilies
how Matthew 6 helped me be less anxious about money
Matthew 6:25-33 is a passage where Jesus talks about money and not worrying about how much you’d have in the future. He says basically, “Don’t worry about the future. Consider the birds and the lilies, see how God provides everything they need! And if God provides for them, won’t He provide for you?”
Uh, maybe? I mean, isn’t my life much more complicated than flowers and animals? I’m a freelancer with bills and dreams to pay for, and nothing feels guaranteed. In past years, the anxiety of “Can I make it another year?” has felt like I was on some Squid Game-like death row, where the only way to stay alive was to work harder and earn more to delay the execution date.
But even though I’m a prisoner of my own making, it seems that I’m still here. I turned 41 last month, and looking back, I didn’t just survive—I thrived like those lilies in the field. Although it seems they did it with much more ease and joy than me.
I think the lilies figured out something that’s taken me a long, long time to realize: their only focus is to be who they were created to be. Nothing more, nothing less. And their Creator, a good God, provides for them to keep being who they were created to be. This simple unfolding is held together by an all-powerful, all-loving God. And year after year, again and again, they blanket the field with their beautiful blossoms.
So Jesus tells me, Stop worrying about tomorrow and just be who I created you to be. And because God knows what you need, and because He is a good God, He’ll take care of you so you can keep going.
So the question wasn’t What’s my future going to look like? but Who am I created to be?
Well, I know who I think I should be when I compare myself to others. I know who I’m told I should be by the Western, Evangelical, capitalistic, patriarchal values I’ve been indoctrinated by. But really, who am I created to be?
Because if I’m created by an infinitely powerful and loving God, then I have been created with the intention to be a powerful and loving creation. It’s ironic that this freelance life I’ve created for myself gives me full freedom and agency to be who I am created to be. But instead, I’ve locked myself in a prison cell, paralyzed with anxiety and scarcity.
Matthew 6 ends with this well-known verse:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
After considering the lilies and the birds, Jesus says, Here’s a simple, practical way you can receive everything you need. Growing up, seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness was taught through the lens of moral action and worthiness: Work hard at doing the righteous things that will advance the Kingdom of God here on earth (like serving at church, evangelizing so people get saved), and then God will reward you. You can imagine how that shaped the way I thought about who I was created to be, the work I was supposed to do, and how I could be worthy of God’s love and provision.
But Cynthia Bourgeault opened up another way of seeing the kingdom of God—not as a place to build or a territory to conquer, but as an inner reality, a way of perceiving and moving through this world. She describes it as “a complete, mutual indwelling: I am in God, God is in you, you are in God, we are in each other.”
This means I can step out of my prison and into a kingdom where I don’t have to do anything to receive His love—I can simply be present, in this moment, open to what’s unfolding, like those lilies, into who I am created to be.
In my Aletheia training, we use the word unfolding to describe the way we approach our sessions—and, really, all of life. The core practice of unfolding is releasing control and allowing the present moment to reveal what is True. And rather than imposing our will, we practice being fully present with the Truth that arises, accepting it with compassion, and creating space for what wants to emerge, to emerge.
This practice of unfolding—of allowing the present moment to reveal what’s True—is how I’ve experienced seeking the Kingdom of God. It’s the gentle uncovering of Truth. And because God is in me and with me, I have everything I need to take the next step in response to that Truth. And with each step I take, I am unfolding into who I am created to be.
If I can simply concern myself with this kind of unfolding, then I am living in His righteousness—not because I’m doing the right things, but because I’m in right alignment with Truth. Then I can be like the lilies in the field, blossoming into a future that I could have never dreamed or imagined, but one that holds everything I have ever needed.
PS: let me know if you’d want to read more posts like this, posts inspired by Bible passages, but bringing threads outside of traditional religious circles and creating some connections and insights you may not have heard from a pulpit.