Are you a worrier? I confess that I worry about certain things. And I know it’s a weakness that I need to work on; in fact, it’s exactly what God wants us not to do! The Word is pretty clear on that. Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount, we should lay up our treasures in heaven and that we ought not to serve the things of this world because God has said He shall supply all our needs. We also have Jesus’ recorded words when He says, “Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof (Matthew 6:34).” In other word’s Jesus is saying, don’t worry about tomorrow we have enough to worry about today.
Does God want us to worry? Logically speaking, there is no reason for us to worry. As we read in the book of Philippians we are instructed clearly to not worry. Paul writes, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6).” In this verse we read that we shouldn’t be anxious (worry) about anything; in fact He says in the second part of this verse that when we start to worry about things that we are to make them known to God, how, through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. How do I do that though? Well simply put we must put our trust in God. Do we trust God to provide? God will always provide for us. As we are reminded through Jesus’ words in Matthew, God is our Provider – “And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:28-33).” But don’t expect to just come to God, and say, “Lord, I’m in a bind. Here I am and I need you to take care of this.” That’s the wrong answer! We see in Matthew 6:33 we must seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. For instance, If you were to lose a contact in the sink, would you count it as lost? I don’t think that would be the case; you would attempt to put forth a little effort and seek it and find it so that you would be supplied with vision. Right? Well it’s the same in this situation as well if you get into a situation where you need some help we must seek first God and His righteousness, but if we don’t seek it well then we might as well be with out that contact because we are walking blind and will not be provided for. My prayer for all of us today is that we learn to rest in God’s love and provision for us, and to “put off” our worries, perhaps by praying about them, and forcing ourselves to think about something else when we begin to worry. In fact why not focus on God, and the blessings He always provides! – By Andrew Chavarrilla