Don’t Worry, God Will Provide (DW4)

Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34 (Click link for scripture in Bible Gateway) 25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. (Matthew 6:25-27, 31-33 NLT) Jesus said, “Don’t worry about the stuff of everyday life; food, drink, clothes.” Life’s more complicated now, so the list of potential things to worry about is longer (Cell phones, car payments, dental appointments….), but the point is the same. Birds don’t work and don’t worry because God takes care of them. Flowers don’t last long, but God has made them more beautiful than any movie star on the Oscars red carpet. So if God cares about birds and flowers, he certainly cares about you and me! And this, “Can your worries add a single moment to your life?” (Actually, research indicates that worry is likely to subtract moments from your life, not add them!) How did Jesus know that? Will I have what I need? Will there be enough? How do I look? What do other people think of me? What’s going to happen to me? Jesus said that these things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, and maybe appropriately so. We know it’s not only the stuff of life that has value, it’s life itself. But here’s the real question, maybe three real questions for you and me: Do you believe? What really matters to you? Is God’s Kingdom first? So put God’s Kingdom above all else. Trust Father’s love and care and live for his purpose, and he will bring you what you need, because Father knows what you need. Can it really be that easy? No, it’s not that easy, but it’s that simple! So don’t worry about tomorrow! Prayer: Father, Thanks that trusting you with our everyday needs is as real and doable as when Jesus first said these things. It’s not easy, it’s counter-cultural, it’s counter-intuitive, but it’s real and doable. Now we need a lot of help to do it! We trust you for that, too!