"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 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 6:25-34 NIV
The enemy is the great deceiver—and how we been deceived!!
All of us have probably felt the pull of anxiety in one form or another during our Christian walk. The past is probably riddled with moments where it seemed like there were not enough resources to get your life from here to there…
This enemy has shown itself numerous times in my life and I continually find myself coming back to this passage in the Word quite often as I deal with the question of resources. It is a sin which continually manifests itself into daily life by hiding around every corner, attempting to pull your life into the pits of despair.
But the Lord tells us here that we should not find ourselves full of anxiety because He is the ultimate provider of all things. If He shall spend time, the creator of the universe, caring for the birds of this hour; why would He not spend time preparing a place for His servant, whom He called, with provisions for His daily walk?
The Apostle Paul, who probably dealt with the question of resources like no other man, made a firm statement on the issue of anxiety to the Philippians:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6 NIV
We are not to spend our time in anxiety, believing the lies of the enemy that we do not have enough resources to make it through another day. This could be further from the truth. For the Lord provides all that we need to proclaim His glory.
Our Western thought that He will provide food today, a house, a car, and numerous other material things in order to sustain the lifestyle we so much take for granted is not what the Lord promises. The Lord never guarantees this in our daily lives. In fact He says we should be careful of treasuring up things of this world a few verses earlier in Matthew 6.
One only has to read from the book of Hebrews:
“Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.”
Hebrews 10:32-34 NIV
In this passage they have been thrown in prison, their homes destroyed, and persecuted in public. Yet the Lord provided those with the strength do endure these struggles in order to do what? In order to give Him glory…
This is the promise of Matthew 6. That He will provide all that we need in order to proclaim all glory to God…
Therefore brothers, join with me in prayer that we all may come to this understanding and know that God will provide all that we need in order to achieve the mission He so lovingly called us to fulfill...
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