January 8
Genesis 15-16
Psalm 6:1-5
Proverbs 1:20-23
Matthew 6:19-34
Do Not Worry
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:33-34 NIV
It seems irresponsible not to worry about tomorrow. It is drilled into our heads when we become adults that we need to plan ahead, prepare for a rainy day, and save for the future. We buy homeowner’s insurance, car insurance and life insurance to help shield us from future problems. We try to make decisions today that will make tomorrow go smoothly. And yet this verse tells us not to worry about tomorrow. How can we reconcile those things? Jesus is not suggesting that we live irresponsibly. He is not advocating that we throw caution to the wind and live recklessly. Throughout the Bible we find verses about planning ahead and preparing for the future.
In order to explain verse 34, we have to look back at verse 33. Verse 34 starts with the word, therefore. Whenever we see that word we need to look at the passage before it to determine what the there is there for. Verse 33 is a promise from God that if we seek His kingdom and His righteousness above all other things, He will provide for all of our other needs. When we focus on Him and make Him the number one priority of our lives, then we don’t have to worry about anything because He will take care of us. Planning ahead and preparing for the future is not the same thing as worry. When we seek Him to help us make decisions we can trust that He will lead us to make the decisions that are best for our future. We cannot possibly know what the future holds. There is no way to prepare for every possible problem we might experience in the future because we are not omniscient. But our God who leads, guides and directs us is. He has complete knowledge of the future and He can lead us today to make the decisions that are best for our future.
Worry does not change the future. It does not help us avoid tomorrow’s problems, but it does rob today of its joy. It is not possible for us to “figure it all out.” Worry is a lack of faith. It is a desire to be in control of everything and not trusting God to take care of us. Ouch! We do the best we can with the information we have and then we leave the results to God. We have a loving God who takes care of us. We are His children and we can trust Him. He is faithful and will not let us down.
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