Don't Worry...Trust God--Matthew 6:25-34

Do Not Worry
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 than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 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? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If 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—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Ever know a chronic worrier?  I have been that person and have several people that I know that would fit that description.  Many times this had to do with a compulsion to make sure everything was perfect and for them to be in control of everything.  News flash....we are not in control, not even over some of the smallest things in life, but God is (see Job 38-41 for some examples).  Fear is a natural emotion when we encounter something that might require a "flights or fight" scenario, however, worry is making those fears the object of our faith instead of making God the object of our faith.  Jesus also seems to be drawing a direct correlation with the word "Therefore" between who/what we worship and our need to worry.  He seems to be saying, if you're living according to the Beatitudes, being salt and light, obeying both the letter of the Law and the spirit of the Law, praying for your needs to be met, worshiping in a way that brings glory to God, have a correct worldview so that you can see the truth clearly, and you're storing up treasures in heaven and not here on earth, then what need do you have to worry?  That's a lot of "ifs" though that we know we don't follow through on and it is those items where we fall short that often are the cause of our worries.

Jesus gets practical here and says that we don't even need to worry about food or clothes--I think His intent probably was to take people back to the time of the Exodus where God miraculously provided both manna and quail for the nation of Israel to eat, and gave them water from a rock, and their clothes and sandals did not wear out for their entire 40 year journey.  But He also makes the argument from lesser to greater here saying that God takes care of feeding and clothing the plants and animals and isn't man who is created in the image of God much more valuable then them?  So isn't it logical that God will also take care of us?  Jesus even goes so far as to ask, "Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his (or her) life?"  We know the answer to this question is "No," and we're pretty sure that it's just the opposite, that people who worry a lot may actually be in worse health because of a physiological response to the worry.

Live in the present and be ready to do today what God has for you to do with the strength and resources that He gives us to face each new day.  I referenced the LORD giving manna to the children of Israel during the Exodus.  They could only gather enough each morning to last them for that day.  They could not horde or stockpile it, so they had to depend on God each and every day to meet their needs and trust that He would do for them today what He had done for them yesterday, and they had to do this for 40 years.  Jesus encourages us in his last sentence to simply take one day at a time.  We must make God and not our fears of the future or regrets about the past the object of our faith.