Matthew 6:25-34
25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they? 27 And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span? 28 And why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself 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 furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.
34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
As Christians, we believe that the Bible is not only our source for theological truth, but also for practical daily living in a way that honors God and amplifies His glory. That is easy enough to say, but it often can be difficult to live, particularly if we are under stress or suffer from clinical anxiety. Add to that the multitude of people, believers and non-believers, who do not believe in mental health problems, or who think you can just "tough through it," and you have a recipe for serious problems.
So, let me start there. If you have mental health issues, and if you take medication for it, please do not feel like your "faith is failing you." God is omnipotent, and He heals through many different means. Sometimes, yes, it is miraculous, but most times it is not. He has created talented and skilled people who have equipped themselves with the medical knowledge necessary to help us. Please do not be one of those miracle snobs who spurns God's healing and blessing by turning it away because it did not come to you packaged in a "miracle."
But for those who suffer from nothing more than the day to day anxiety of life, God has given us clear instruction on how we can rest in Him and find comfort in His provision.
Often times we get ahead of ourselves. We start worrying about things and before we know it we are five worries down the road and carrying and lot of heartache and a headache around with us. I do not know about you, but my "I can fix it" attitude often leaves me stressing about all kinds of things that I have no reason to worry about because I honestly do not even know if they will happen at all.
Yet the beautiful thing is that God has already got it under control, and the only part of it that we are responsible for is to seek out His plan and to follow it.
That is right, YOU do not have to come up with the plan. You just have to follow it.
How do we know there is a plan? Well, Jesus makes it clear to us in the above scripture that God cares for even the flowers of the field, and if He does that, then how much more does he care for us? God helps us and guides us through His spirit. We just have to be in tune with Him and have the courage to follow where He leads.
I do not know about you, but knowing that I do not have to have all of the answers or to know everything in order to be taken care of is a huge comfort, and it really helps me to do exactly what this scripture says to do. Take it one day at a time, one step at a time, and focus on making sure that I am praying and following the path He sets before me.
So I will ask, are you stressed and worried? Do you feel like you are overwhelmed by the concerns of life? Are you worrying not just about what will happen in the next five minutes, but about what the next five years will bring?
There is peace in knowing that God is holding you and your life in the palm of His hand, and that He loves you too much to let you wander planless and hopeless. You are important to Him, and you matter. Seek Him, seek His plan, seek His will, and He will take the responsibility upon Himself of ensuring that you have what you need.
The only question is, have you prayed and submitted to His plan for you for today?
Comments