Generous, Day 10 - No Worries

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?… 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. Mt. 6:25-27, 33-34

Worry is the opposite of faith.  Worry is dependence on self instead of God.  All of us worry at times.  But the Bible says we need not worry. Instead we should cast our cares on God because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).  The worried person gets so caught up in their circumstances that they can’t function – they can’t eat, sleep, work or concentrate; they can’t see that God is at work (Psalm 121:4).

Worry is negative mediation.  It is dwelling on the worst possible result of a scenario.  It is a focus on what might be or could be rather than what is.  It focuses on circumstances rather than God.  It wastes time and energy.  How many times have you worried about something that never came to be?  Not one bit of worry can add any value to our situation.  It is a complete waste of time. It also dishonors God because worry is the opposite of trust.

Trust is a choice to focus.  It’s a hard choice (if it was easy, everyone would do it) because trust means that we don’t have all the facts or answers (Hebrews 11:1).   And yet because we know the character of God, we know that our trust is well founded. Trust is only as good as the object of trust. Trust in God could not be in a better object.  God is who He says He is and He can do what he says He can do.

Jesus told his followers not to worry for several reasons.  First, Jesus says not to worry because the things we tend to worry about rarely matter in life.  Our lives are not defined by what we eat, or drink or drive.  Second, Jesus says not to worry because we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, values us and knows our needs better than we know them ourselves (Matt. 6:32).  Third, he says not to worry because worry can’t change anything.  It can only distract us from the most important things.

Jesus answer to worry is focus.    “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  If we focus on God’s priorities, God’s eye will be on our needs.

We fix our eyes on what is most important to us.  Our tendency is to glance at Jesus and have a fixed gaze at our circumstances.  Many of us are staring right now at our employment, our bank account, our budget or our bills.  Others are lost in our worries about the future.   Our gaze is to be on Christ, not on our circumstances.  We are to seek FIRST God’s Kingdom and God’s Righteousness.  To seek Him first includes prioritizing the giving of our time, talent and treasure to the work of God. We have no reason to fear. Our Heavenly Father knows what we need and promises to provide.

The simple life is a focused life.  As we focus on God’s Priorities, we will experience God Provision.

Generosity Challenge (Day 9) - Check out www.generouschurch.com/videos.  Go to the video section and watch at least 4 videos. (You can also go to the Author section on the right)