Should I be worried about that?
2020 was a year filled with sorrow, fear and worry. But for those of us who love and trust God, it was also a year where love, hope and faith could be seen everywhere. We had many opportunities to witness God's faithfulness and His love for us. Like the exiles in Jeremiah 29:11, we received God's promise during 2020 that He has hope and a future for us. I can personally testify that some things I had been praying for over multiple years were made manifest in 2020, in the midst of a year many would like to forget. One of the greatest of them was the news that God would bless my wife and I with our first grandchild. And on April 26th of this year, Elijah Alexander Glenn was born. In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus told us not to live a life filled with worry, but instead to seek God's kingdom first and He would in turn provide the things we need. I pray that you would seek God and He would supply His abundant provision for your life.
“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 than food, and the body more 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matt. 6:25-27) The gospel writer Matthew includes Jesus' teaching of His disciples about worry, in the Sermon on the Mount. Food and clothing are considered part of the basic necessities of life along with shelter. But Jesus tells us not to worry about these things. He uses birds as an example of God's provision and says that the Father will also provide for His children, who are much more valuable to Him. Our worry has no value, it is useless and it doesn't add anything to our lives. It is impossible for your worry to change things (like the provision of food, clothing or time) in your life. Therefore, we demonstrate our distrust of God when we are distracted by the temporal things of this life and ignore the eternal things of God.
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers 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—you of little faith? (Matt. 6:28-30) Jesus teaches His disciples here again of the needless and useless anxiety over provision of clothing. He points to an example of God's provision in the beauty of something so perishable as flowers. Jesus contrasts the beauty of God's provision with that of Solomon, who could not achieve comparable beauty even with his access to great worldly wealth. God can not only provide for you, but He can do so much better than you ever could!
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. (Matt. 6:31-34) Jesus taught His disciples that those who are not the Father's children, succumb to worry and distraction, chasing the things of this world. But here, Jesus teaches us that God's children are to focus our energies by first going to the Father in prayer. He is the source of everything, and He will provide the method and the means to supply what He knows we need. We can not control what may come tomorrow so it is futile to worry about anything. However, we can go to God in prayer, and that is the first thing we should do about anything!
When our daughter in law was first dating our son, she told my wife and I that she didn't plan to have children. It was a shock to us and our dreams for the future. But after she and our son married, I resolved to go to God about it. I journaled my prayer that I would see a grandchild and I became even more fervent about praying that prayer as 2019 was coming to a close. In 2020, during the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, the reports of death came daily through televised and anecdotal news. But God gave us (and many others) His report... that He was still providing hope and life. And my wife and I received the news that we were going to be grandparents! What is it that you stand in need of? Is there something that you realize you've been worrying about? Jesus says to us, stop worrying about it and go to God about it. God still provides, and His children can still access His provision through prayer!..."seek ye first the kingdom of God..."
Our grandson, Elijah Alexander Glenn… God is faithful to provide!
Blessings,
Rev. Glenn
