Wherever You Go...There You Are!

Matthew 6:25-34 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Do Not Worry

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,[a] or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?[b] 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But strive first for the kingdom of God[c]and his[d] righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

34 “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

The text from Matthew tells us that God has prepared and made a way for all creatures that inhabit this world that he created. Likewise we as humans are stewards of this earth and if God has provided for its creatures, he has surely provided for its stewards.

Beloved, worry is something that often overtakes us. We worry about our next meal, our next outfit, or the next place that we will lay our heads to rest. God has provided for this world and continues to do so, but we still seem to be a people of worry instead of a people faithful in the knowledge of God’s provision.

Does anxiety help God’s people? Will worry supply what God has already promised to supply us? The answer is no. Anxiety and worry place burdens on each and every one of us that God does not desire for our lives. Having faith in God’s provision for our needs is the only way that we can distance ourselves from worry as to focus on the work that God is revealing to us.

Instead of the what, why, and where, this text tells us that we must focus instead on the WHO... we must focus on God to provide the manna to us, just as he did for those fleeing Egypt with Moses. When we worry, when we are anxious, we show ourselves as helpless with nowhere to turn. For those that are followers of the cross, we have the proof and the promise that God provides not only for our earthly needs, but our eternal needs. When in the unknown, we have God to turn to in prayer, relationship, and provision.

Philippians 4:6, 7 tells us:  “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

As of this writing I have been extended a call to pastor a church in another community. Instead of worrying, I will place my faith in God.Instead of worrying,I go in the knowledge that wherever I go, there I am, and wherever I am, God is there!

Beloved, do not let worry and anxiety rule your life.Place your trust in the Father,the Son,and the Holy Spirit. He will provide just as he does for the birds of the air and the lilies in the field.

Thanks for letting me be part of this community over the past three and a half years.