What is worry? It is a sense of uneasiness and anxiety about the future. Worry has its roots in fear and uncertainty. In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus was talking to his disciples about worry and anxiety, he was talking to his followers; he was not talking to everyone because everybody is not going to receive him. You cannot be a disciple of Jesus if you are not following him. He was talking to those who put their faith in him, those who put their trust in him. Matthew 6:34 says, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
Jesus was not saying we are not supposed to be aware of our need; we need to eat, we need to have shelter and clothing. However, what God is saying is do not worry. Do not stress yourself about what you are going to eat; do not stress yourself about what clothing you are going to wear today. You might only have one suit but you have a suit. You may only have one pair of shoes but at least you have shoes. Do not become anxious and fearful, staying up all night because you have this bill to pay or that bill to pay; the light bill is due, the utility bill is due, the phone bill is due. You may need food in your cabinets or in your fridge, God is saying do not worry about these things, do not stress yourself.
Jesus said therefore in verse 25, “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” He is saying on this account because we cannot serve both God and mammon or money we are not to worry about what we are going to eat, what clothing we are going to wear or what roof we are going to have our heads.
In Luke 12:15-21, Jesus gave a parable about a rich man and his barns. The rich man worked hard for his increase, he tilled the ground, he did everything necessary for his crops to grow and one day he said to himself, “What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.” Jesus said…thou fool.
This rich man was saying, I have worked hard for this, I have worked to get everything I have obtained, and I have worked hard to have money in the bank. I have worked hard and now I am going to sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labor; however, he had the wrong attitude. He had an abundance of crops, he had more than enough but instead of taking some of that abundance and helping people in need, he decided to store up for himself. Jesus said thou fool you’re not going to see the fruit of your labor. You are not going to get the opportunity to enjoy all you have worked for, and you are not going to live to see what you have accomplished. Now everything you have accumulated will belong to someone else to enjoy.
That is why Jesus said, therefore, take no thought (do not worry) for tomorrow because you do not know if you will live to see tomorrow, you do not know if you will live to pay the utility bill, to pay the cable bill, to put food in the cabinets and fridge. Do not worry about what is going to happen tomorrow because tomorrow will take care of itself. We can only live one day at a time. This rich man refused to recognize the fact that God gave him his abundance, God gave him his increase. God gave him everything he had. God gave him the land to plant his crops, God gave him the seed he put in the ground, God gave him the rain that watered the seed, and God gave him the sun that warmed the earth so that the seed would grow.
God gave him the bees to pollinate the plants; God gave him everything he needed so he would have his increase of harvest. Just as God gives us our jobs, he gives us our cars, he gives us our houses, he gives us our spouses, and he gives us our promotions. Yes, we must do our part and put in the effort but unless God opens the door and blesses the things we are hoping and praying for they will not become a reality. We must recognize the fact that all of these material possessions come from God. The rich man did not realize this, he did not realize that if it was not for God’s blessings he would not have had the sun, the rain, the seed; he could have labored and toiled but if God had given too much or too little rain or if the crops had not grown to their full potential he would not have had an abundance of harvest. Just as God gave the rich man everything he needed, he gives us everything we need today.
Jesus said, your life is more than meat and the body is more than raiment. “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” Matthew 6:26. Consider the birds, think about and observe the birds. They do not work, they do not plant but God takes care of them, how much more are you better than they are. Aren’t you better than the birds of the air?
David said in Psalms 8:4, what is man that thou art mindful of him? David was saying Lord what is it about man that you care so much about us, what is it about man that you love us so much, what is it about man that you sent your son Jesus to die on the cross for us. Why do you love us so much? Why do you love us when we are hardheaded and disobedient, why do you love us when we act like we do not care about you, why do you love us, Lord? What is man that you are so mindful of him?
David also said in Psalms 42, Oh my soul why are you cast down? Oh, my soul why are you worried, oh my soul why are you stressed, oh my soul why are you staying up all night crying and pacing the floor, oh my soul why are you disquieted within me?
Jesus said, aren’t you better than the fowls of the air, do you know who you are. You are the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. You are his child and he is your Father, he is a good Father who takes care of his children. You have good fathers and bad fathers. God is a good Father who takes care of his children. A good Father guides you, Psalms 32:8 says, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way that thou shall go. I will guide thee with mine eye.” God is saying, he is going to instruct you, he is going to teach you, he is going to show you the way in which you should go. He is going to guide you with his eye. He going to guide you with his word, he is going to show you what you should and should not do, but it is up to you to listen. It is up to you to accept what he is speaking, to follow the direction in which he is leading you.
In Matthew 14:22-31 Jesus was walking on the water, when Peter saw him he said: “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” Jesus said come. Peter began walking on the water and he was amazed, he was amazed because he knew walking on the water was impossible. His thoughts might have been something like this, “I’m walking on the water, I’m going to Jesus, Oh look at this, isn’t this great. I never thought I would be doing anything like this.” But then what happened? Peter began to look around, he began looking at his surroundings and doubt began to creep in, he began to worry, he took his eyes off Jesus and he began to sink.
He began to think, this is impossible, how am I walking on water? The enemy the devil began to speak to this natural mind and doubt began to creep in. He started seeing that utility bill that needed to be paid, he started to see he did not have enough food; he started to see he did not have money to pay the cable bill and he did not have money to pay the rent. He started to see he did not have money to take care of his responsibilities.
If only Peter had kept his eyes on the Lord he would not have allowed his circumstances to disturb his peace of mind.
Have you ever seen a horse race? When horses are running a race, blinders are placed on the horses face so that they cannot see to the right or to the left; the horse can only see what is ahead of it. This is done to keep the horse from becoming distracted because as long as the horse can see what is ahead it will keep running until it reaches the finish line. Just like the blinders on the horse we need to put blinders on, we do not need to look to the right hand or to the left hand; we just need to keep looking straight ahead. We need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus because when we take our eyes off of him we begin to worry and worry is sin.
Worry produces fear and fear produces torment. When you begin to worry fear begins to set in and you might say things such as, “how am I going to get this done, I do not know how I am going to get through this,” and then when you fear you find yourself doing things you should not do. You begin to try and fix the situation yourself. You get into situations you normally would not have gotten into if you had just prayed and asked the Lord what he would have you to do. If you had only asked God for his direction you would not have gotten yourself into the situation you are in. We get ourselves into situations, and then we cry unto God and ask him to deliver us. Lord, please help me, I’m in this situation, I need your help, Lord.
We find ourselves in these situations because we do not seek God’s direction, we do not seek his guidance and instructions. Then we find ourselves becoming fearful and fear brings torment, and we stress ourselves over this and we stress ourselves over that. We can’t eat or sleep because we are worrying about different things that are happening in our lives. Then we begin to experience problems in our health because of all the worry and stress, the enemy is tormenting our minds. Fear does not come from God, fear comes from the devil.
Jesus was saying to his disciples your Father knows you have a utility bill that’s due, your Father knows you need to pay the rent, your Father knows you need a job, your Father knows you need food to eat; so why are worrying about these things. Your Father said he would provide all your needs, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…..
Seek God first; seek his face and not his hand. Do not always go to the Lord with your hand out saying, give me, give me, give me. Go to the Lord and say Lord what would you have me to do, Lord what is your will for me today? Seek his kingdom, tell people about the goodness of the Lord, bring increase to his kingdom and all of these things shall be added unto you.
God is saying do not worry, do not be afraid, do not fret because he wants to give us the kingdom, it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom. Do not worry about tomorrow, do not worry about what you do not have control over. Do not worry because God has got it all under control. He is going to fix it, he promised he would fix it; he is going to do exactly what he said he would do. God is our good Father, he is not a deadbeat dad; he takes care of his children.