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(This blog is part 2 of 2.  The first blog is here):

 

4. The fourth reason I see that Jesus gave us not to worry is in verses v28-32

 

Matt 6:30 says  "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you?"

 

God will automatically take care of our needs without us having to worry about it.

 

We heard about birds and how God cares, now we're hearing about things which God cares for that can't even think - plants!  Things that don't think or move around like animals, and God still takes care of them!

 

How much more would God take care of me, without me having to push and plan and control things  in order to meet my earthly needs?

 

Verse 32 says “Your Heavenly Father knows you need all these things”

 

I sometimes think of how my own earthly parents have had such a desire for my good, how they rooted for me to get a good job when I finished college, to marry well, to provide for my family, they desired for the good of my children.  How much more does God know about and desire all these needs to be met for my family and I? Even moreso.

 

How much more does God care for us than the plants He clothes and feeds?

 

He'll provide automatically.  This doesn't mean that He works on behalf of lazy people - we still have to work to live.  If food is in front of us we still have to pick it up and chew and swallow it.  But the Lord will make sure it's there for us.  If we put the Lord first, we will always have what we need, our children will have what they need - the Lord will always provide.

 

George Muller was a godly saint who had a heart for orphan children.  One day they were out of milk and food.  Hundreds of kids sitting there hungry, and so what did George do?  He had everyone pray and thank the Lord in faith for the food that wasn't there on the table yet.  After they thanked the Lord, there was a knock on the door.  A milk truck had broken down in front of their orphanage and the milk man offered to give it all to the kids, otherwise it would spoil!  The Lord provided miraculously.

 

I've never experienced a miracle like that, but the fact that I've never lacked food even a day in my life doesn't mean I should be any less thankful or full of faith!  The Lord is faithful, He always has provided my needs, and always will - even if it takes a miracle to do it.  And that's the 4th reason not to worry.

 

 

5.  Reason not to worry #5 which Jesus gave in Matthew 6:32-33 is one of the most critical reasons not to worry: Worrying about the things here distracts us from focusing on what's most important (The most important thing being (what the world misses): Seeking God Himself, and to be like Him).

 

Matthew 6:32-33  "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

 

If we seek first His kingdom and righteousness, God will automatically give us our earthly needs.  

 

What God's kingdom?

 

I heard a saying a sister in our church shared some years ago - regarding the question "what is the kingdom of God?" She said, "The kingdom of God is wherever God is king."

 

I was so blessed by that.  In other words - seek to make God king of my life, king of my heart, the only one on the throne - my everything.  Then the kingdom of God can be there!  And wherever God is king - there's righteousness, peace and joy there (Rom 14:17) - no worry.

 

So if I'm seeking to keep God on the throne of my heart, that will be the most restful and peaceful life.

 

A DECEPTION

One deception I've fallen into many times is to think: The way to peace is to get rid of all my problems - "I just need to get to a point where I have no major problems in life, then I can have peace and not worry."

 

"If I just had a new boss, if my kids were older and better behaved, if my spouse was like this, if I could just move out of California where things are cheaper, and get a job where I could work from home, making this much more money a year, then I could go on a vacation as much as I want and order out all the food that I want so i don't have to cook, then I could hire some people to do my yard work and clean my house, never have to deal with money or house problems again... ahhhh that would be so nice, then I could have peace."

 

That's one of the devil's biggest deceptions! "IF ONLY... such and such... then I could have peace."

 

Even if we could accomplish every earthly ambition we wanted, there'd definitely be some other problems to worry about - because rest doesn't lie outside of us, it's something that is inside of us ("peace in the Holy Spirit"). The weather would be too hot, we'd go on vacation and get sick, the hotel would be too crowded...  some new health issue comes up I need surgery for - something, anything would disturb me because I'm not at inward rest.

 

There's no finding rest outside in the flesh! Never.

 

Freedom from anxiousness comes only in one way: seeking God and His righteousness first - seeking His presence with us and making my life's focus to refine myself, to be like Him.  Knowing Him and pleasing Him.  Being intimate with Him and living to see His smile.  Loving Him and fearing Him.

 

God will take care of all my earthly needs automatically so that I can focus on making Him king of my life.

 

A CLARIFICATION - IT'S PROGRESSIVE

We may not be where we want to be yet, we still think about a lot of earthly concerns, and have to keep directing our mind to focus on the Lord.  But we can be encouraged that it's a progressive battle.  We make progress in it over time as we fight, we get victory and slowly our mind starts to be transformed.  The Bible doesn't say it's a one time transformation, but says to have a continual renewal of this transformation (Romans 12:2).

 

It's like a cup full of dirty water.  Our mind is dirty from years and decades of past sinful and careless living, distant from God.  And now we have to keep pouring in clean, pure water.  The cup isn't clean instantly right when we pour in clean water (God's Word and promises/encouragements) but over time it'll get cleaner and cleaner as we pour in clean water, and we get more peace over time as the Lord helps us to transform our mind to focus on what's really important.

 

 

6. The last reason not to worry that Jesus gave is in verse 34:

“Tomorrow will care for itself”

 

The last reason not to worry about all the problems of the future that Jesus gave us, I read like this: God will give us the grace when we get there!  I believe that's what "Tomorrow will care for itself" means.  We can trust the Lord to give the power and supply for tomorrow that we need when we get there.

 

I used to think about how Abraham had such integrity, faith, and love for the Lord to be faithful to sacrifice his beloved Isaac.  And I started worrying - do I have all that faith, to where if God called me to do something extreme (under end-time persecution, for example), I could do it?  What if I face some really tough temptation?  The Lord comforted me with that same thought - if tomorrow I run into that situation, then He will give me the grace for it.  But don't worry about it today.

 

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:34‬ 

 

There’s enough today to focus on - seek the Lord for help for the things today.  Tomorrow we can seek Him again for help.

 

I see that’s one way God keeps me close to Him - always giving needs that come up and drive me to go to Him.  I’m thankful for that.

 

 

CONCLUSION

I just want to end with a related saying I've been blessed a lot by recently from Charles Spurgeon, it's a sort of a paraphrase or rewording of Romans 8:28.

He said;

 

"If there was a better situation for you than the one you're in right now, DIVINE LOVE would have put you there already"

 

Why am I in the situation I'm in?  Is it bad luck?  Coincidence? Is it punishment because of mistakes I made in the past? No.  The reason I'm in the exact situation I am in today is because GOD INTENSELY LOVES ME!  That's why we’re in the exact situation we’re in right now.  That's why we live where we live, that's why we look like we do, that's why we were born the year we were, that's why we have the family we have, that's why we're married or not married to who we are, why we work in the occupation we're in, why we make the exact salary we do down to the dollar, everything!  God's intense Divine Love has us exactly where we are today.

 

I'm seeing the Lord help me have more confidence in His love over time - not all at once, but OVER TIME He's helping me grow in it, and I trust Him to keep make it even more and more clear for me - to have that revelation of the knowledge of Him in my heart, confident, not shaken so easily like I used to be in all the worries and cares of life.

 

In summary, here are the reasons I see that Jesus gave for us not to worry:

1. The things we tend to worry about, aren't what matter the most

2. God is our Heavenly Father who loves us intensely and will care for us

3. Worrying does nothing to help our situation tomorrow, but drains our strength for the things we have to do today

4. God will provide our all needs without us having to push for them

5. Worrying about earthly things distracts us from what's most important

6. There's enough to lean on the Lord for regarding today's needs, we can trust Him to provide for tomorrow's needs when they come

 

May the Lord give us revelation of these things more in our heart, as we meditate on them.