Worry and Word Games

 

HIGHLIGHT

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34 NASB 1995)

EXPLAIN

At the top of the hierarchy of needs are food, clothing, and water. Threaten any one of these and your whole life becomes focused on that one thing. It is almost like the same way a physical injury will focus your attention on that pain. Before the highlighted verse, Jesus has run through a series of admonitions to not be divided in our attentions. Our focus is to be on God and His Kingdom and not on the accumulation of wealth. He brings the section to a definite point beginning in Matt. 6:25-34. In a series of illustrations, He displays how mindful God is of not just the needs of all His creation, but how He supplies both sufficiency and beauty. Are you worried about food? Consider the birds. They don’t plant, harvest, or store. Yet they are fed. Worried about clothing? Consider how beautiful the lilies are, even though they are little more than grass, they are elegantly adorned. Jesus admonishes us that worry accomplishes nothing. These are needs that will capture our attention even if they are not going to be a problem until the future. He wants us to know that God is aware of our needs and will supply them. He concludes with my highlighted verse. Today has enough trouble all by itself. Focus on today.

APPLICATION

Hang around church people long enough, and you will eventually hear someone warn us not to worry. Jesus explicitly told us not to worry, but to trust in our Heavenly Father who will provide our needs. Since the instruction is explicit, disobedience is sin. Caught between an emotional response to some lack, whether real or imagined, we will often turn to worry rather than trust. After all, we can either see of vividly imagine the consequences of some lack in our lives, and God’s timing in His provision rarely fits neatly into our timelines regarding when He should provide. I’m not worried, I’m “concerned.” It becomes the word trick that allows us to wallow in our lack of faith, rather than use the experience to learn to trust. It feels like the scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where he must “step out in faith” onto what appears to be empty space. When bills are due and the bank account is empty…when something breaks and there is no money for repairs, trusting in God can feel like we are about to step into empty air. Yet Jesus assures us that the Father is worthy of trust. I wonder how many blessings we miss because we will not trust. How much joy do we fail to experience because we work to fix things ourselves rather than go to God with our need, and then leave it in His hands. We must learn to trust. More than that, we must embrace the opportunities to trust. When God allows an unexpected need into our lives, we must learn to recognize that He trusts us to trust Him in that circumstance. He believes in us. We owe it to Him to trust Him back and leave the word games for Game Night. In that are peace and joy to be found.