“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” – Matthew 6:27
I heard a
story about a husband who got fed up with his wife’s constant worrying.
Finally, one day he asked her, “Why are you always worrying when it doesn't do
ANY good?” She quickly yelled back, “Oh, yes, it does do some good! Ninety
percent of the things I worry about never happen!”
Well, the wife is absolutely correct that 90 percent of the stuff we worry about never happens. But her worry didn’t do a darned thing to stop bad stuff from coming her way, did it?
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes it clear he doesn’t want us to worry. In fact, he tells us so five times in Matthew 6:25-34: “Do not worry about your life” (v. 25). “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (v. 27). “Why do you worry about clothes?” (v. 28). “Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or “What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’” (v. 31). “Do not worry about tomorrow” (v. 34). So, Jesus doesn’t want us to worry. But why not?
Well, just before He shifts to the topic of worry, Jesus was talking about money, telling us, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (v. 24). Keep that in mind as you read verse 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?” In other words, “If you’ve chosen to serve God instead of serving money, and you’ve chosen to love God instead of loving all the stuff in your house, and you’ve chosen to be devoted to God instead of being devoted to your stomach, I tell you, do not worry about these other things.” Life in the kingdom of heaven is infinitely more important than food. And our bodies in the kingdom of heaven are infinitely more important than clothes.
Jesus calls us to take our eyes off all the stuff around us and reorient ourselves to God. And if we are reoriented to God, there is no place in our lives for worrying about food, water, clothes or even tomorrow’s utility bills. In verses 26-30, Jesus points out how well God takes care of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. After all, you’ve never seen an undernourished bird, have you? And have you ever had a weed growing through a crack in your driveway that’s greener than the grass on your lawn? Or seen wildflowers that look better than the flowers in your garden? Why is that? It’s because God is a better gardener than you are. (He’s definitely a better gardener than I am.) So, if God does such a marvelous job clothing a weed or a flower or a wild blade of grass, Jesus asks in verse 30, “Will He not much more clothe you”—and don’t miss the last five words of this verse—“O you of little faith?”
What is Jesus saying? He’s saying that worry demonstrates a lack of faith in God. Therefore, worry is actually a sin! Worry demonstrate a lack of trust God’s LOVE, because it implies that God doesn’t really care about my needs. Worry shows lack of faith in God’s WISDOM, because it implies that God doesn’t know what He’s doing. Worry demonstrates lack of trust in God’s POWER, because worry implies that God isn’t able to provide for my needs. It’s a sin to distrust God’s love, wisdom and power—and that’s exactly what you’re doing when you worry. So Jesus turns to us in verses 28-30 and says, “Trust God, and don’t worry!”
As Jesus says in verse 33: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” if your priorities are straight—if you are heart’s affections and your thoughts are focused on God and His kingdom work, God will supply all of your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. If you’re serving Him, God will meet every need you have—guaranteed.
A recently licensed pilot was flying his private plane on a really cloudy day. He was low on fuel, and he was approaching the airport landing strip … but he couldn’t see it. And he didn’t trust his instrument panel. When the air traffic controller started to guide him through the landing process, the pilot began to panic. Then a stern voice came over the radio: “You just obey instructions. We’ll take care of the obstructions.”
You may worry because the refrigerator is almost empty … or your kids are going to need new shoes next month … or that you won’t have enough money next week to pay for what you need next month. But Jesus turns to you and says sternly, “You just obey my instructions. I’ll take care of the obstructions. And here are my instructions: Seek first the Father’s kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Dane Davis is the Pastor
of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at
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