Go Rest High on that Mountain - Pt 7

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 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. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:25-34 ESV).

Today we will actually look at two things Jesus says about anxiety. They are linked together. The fifth and sixth reasons why a follower of Jesus shouldn’t be anxious are: We shouldn’t be anxious about what we eat or drink or wear because “the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all” (v. 32). Anxiety about the things of this world puts us on the same level with the world of unbelievers. It shows that we are really very much like the world in what makes us happy. And that ought not to be. It also shows that we don’t think our Father in heaven knows our needs. Or perhaps we don’t think he has the heart of a loving Father. Anxiety shows that we are too close to the world and too far from God. So don’t be anxious. The world has nothing eternal to offer, and your loving heavenly Father knows your needs now and forever. It really is an amazingly simple truth. I have found that I am easily distracted with the temptation to believe that somehow God doesn’t really know what I need. It usually looks something like a deadline. We’ve all been there. We have something that appears to us as being difficult and not being able to see the future, we often fear it. The closer the time approaches for us to need something to overcome the obstacle, the easier it is to panic a bit and think maybe God has forgotten. Of course, we never admit that. It is easier to believe that we have somehow misinterpreted God’s will. Whether we have misread God’s will or not, he does not forget what we need. That’s the real truth. And, worrying about all those things simply drains our faith. The real rest is found in our absolute faith in God’s consistency in meeting all our needs. Don’t allow yourself to go to the world of the unbeliever. There is no hope or peace to be found there!