Do Not Worry

“No one is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. It is not possible to serve God and mammon.  Therefore I say to 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?  Observe the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?   Which of you by being anxious is able to add one cubit to his stature?  So why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, 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 after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”  Matthew 6:24-34

 

In the United States, despite many complaints to the opposite, life in modern times has actually been relatively easy, at least in comparison to many other places around the world.  Though the comforts of this world when they come, are something that all people get used to, going backwards in quality of life is not always so easy.

 

The same is said true when someone or a family becomes accustomed to a certain lifestyle and an economic problem (job loss, medical crisis, death in family, natural disaster, etc.) or simply a nationwide problem, much as the world saw back in late 2007-2009.  So then the worrying can begin, especially for those, yes even Believers, who really haven’t been accustomed to seeking Him ‘daily’ for our provision (Luke 11:3), nor really had taken the time to give thanks (Luke 22:19) with a true heart before God, who is the provider (Psalms 65:19) of the whole earth.

 

While we might never know if the world will face a global economic crisis prior to the ‘time of Jacob’s trouble’ (Jeremiah 30:7), better known as the Tribulation, what we do know is that from time to time portions, sometimes large, of the world have experienced very turbulent times, often due to war, but more recently the pandemic debacle that enveloped the earth, causing very high inflation.  Some of the inflation has severely affected the inhabitants of poverty stricken countries, making matters much more difficult than they had been.  So what happens if something occurs to you, your family individually or as part of the collective result of problems throughout your city, state or even country?

 

Well then it would be wise to consider not only the opening passage of the Bible used with this chapter, but you must also believe the truth of God’s Word, understanding that He knows what you need, before you even ask.

 

… “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”  Matthew 6:8b

 

So from personal experience I have seen that these things are indeed true, that God can be fully trusted and though we might be tempted to worry, be anxious (and perhaps we still are from time to time), but nonetheless we should take comfort in the fact knowing that our times are in His hands (Psalms 31:15).  Let me give an example.

 

A few years ago my wife needed a major surgery, brain surgery.  She had a benign tumor that was quite large.  A top neurosurgeon was willing to do the surgery in just over a couple of months from the first time we met him at his office in Detroit.  At the time we were operating a janitorial service. 

 

There was no way with the kids, the workload, the travel time, that all of this work could be done.  I had already considered that God wanted us to relocate to South Dakota, so an entire stack on 30-day notices were sent out to a large portion of our customers, leaving just a few meager accounts left and then we assumed post surgery we would simply go to where God’s direction was and start over with what He provided.

 

Now several months prior I had done an estimate on cleaning a bank organization.  I didn’t take the job, I didn’t have openings to allow that to work and wasn’t willing to get rid of other account to do so.  We were doing a bit of work for a charter school and couldn’t (shouldn’t) give them a notice in the middle of a school year, but ultimately that is what happened anyway.

 

The day after I sent out the notices I received an email from this bank.  Would I be willing to start cleaning them in a month?  I was confused, I didn’t know what to do!  My wife was having a very major surgery, we were going to be moving, I needed to be able to take care of the kids and work, what to do? 

 

It seemed like it was God’s direction, so I nodded my approval via a reply email.  The next day I changed my mind, I was going to tell the bank president that we were not able, ‘thanks, but no-thanks’, but when I went to do so, I had –just- received an email from him that he had just given notice to his current company and would see us in about a month…too late!

 

Long story short, that account turned out to be easy, light, paid the difference in what we got rid of.  In what can be called a miracle intervention from God, it all worked out, worked perfectly and the praises to our Creator who made ‘mountain’s move’ can not be understated.  There was a misunderstanding, the plans had been made, but God ordered the path.

 

“A man’s heart devises his way, but Jehovah arranges his steps.”  Proverbs 16:9

We would end up in South Dakota, but not for six months after we assumed.  Without that janitorial account there would have been no way we could have survived economically.  Someone who I had went to school with in that area, who also owned a cleaning company, ended up taking over the account for approximately the same price.

 

With that said, our prayers should go to God regarding our needs and our responsibility is truly to simply live righteously before our Creator, thru Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Our focus simply needs to be on Christ and then these other things won’t really matter:

 

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”  Matthew 6:33

 

In the end, I would think that none of this would really matter anyway.  We can not ‘take it with us’ (1 Timothy 6:7) and this world is simply a temporary home, where our real Home is awaiting (John 14:2-3; 2 Corinthians 5:8).  Put your trust in God (Proverbs 3:5-6).

 

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves dig through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not dig through and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Matthew 6:19-21

 

Amen!