Do Not Be Anxious

Good morning. If you have your Bibles with you, please turn them to Matthew chapter 6. We'll be reading from verses 25 to 34. Matthew chapter 6, verses 25 to 34. If you do not have a Bible with you, there should be a pew Bible in front of you, and it is yours to keep. Again, Matthew 6, verses 25 to 34. I'll read and we'll pray.

“Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith? So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

conviction — Matthew 6:25-34 (CSB)

Let's pray.

Lord, we are grateful for Your Word. Your Word is to us a joy and the delight of our heart. We gather here because we believe Your Word instills faith in us. So Lord, we pray that now as we turn to what You have to say about anxiety, we pray that we may learn how You want us to battle anxiety and how we can find perfect comfort in You. Please be with us. In Jesus' name, amen.

The Battle with Anxiety

Worrying is like walking around with an umbrella waiting for it to rain. So said by one of our time's great minds, Wiz Khalifa. Another quote: "Nothing in human affairs is worth any great anxiety." Plato said this. Worry and anxiety have been important topics since before Jesus was even born. People have been affected by it, they've seen the uselessness of it, and they've tried to find cures for it.

Worry shows itself physically where our hearts beat faster, our bodies break down, there's constant thought that something terrible will happen, panic attacks, anxiety attacks. And a lot of us think that the Bible doesn't speak to that kind of debilitating worry. Our culture often teaches us that psychology or therapy is the only cure. But in our passage today, Jesus is tackling the root of anxiety. God Himself has something to say about worrying as well, and His teachings on worry and anxiety are what we will be studying today.

Today's passage is one of the most thorough and concentrated treatments on anxiety in all of Scripture. The Jews that Jesus was preaching to were under Roman occupation, so they were always under uncertainty and tension, always wondering if Rome would suddenly declare that they were traitors. In the midst of this, Jesus is confident that there's a way to stop worrying. You may be going through the worst thing you could have imagined, maybe something you wished never came true. You might be worrying about what will happen. Jesus is confident that you can stop worrying.

So for those of us who come with a worrying, anxious heart today, hear from Jesus why we can stop worrying. Jesus cares for those with worrying hearts and genuinely desires that we stop. And when you see the command to stop worrying, take it as a gentle and lowly Shepherd gently telling you not to worry. Our first verse today is almost like a setup verse, so let's read verse 25 again.

“Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?

— Matthew 6:25 (CSB)

The "therefore" that starts this verse off means that Jesus is building His argument based on what He said earlier. And earlier, Jesus says that no one can serve two masters. Either you serve money, or you serve God. If you serve money, you have every reason to worry. You're trying to please a god who will never satisfy your needs, and you are serving a master that has no particular care or feelings towards you. Money will never address the deepest issues in your life or fix all your problems. If money is ultimate in your life, then you'll be so worried and anxious about how you can obtain it, because without it your life would mean nothing.

For those who live for money, there's not much more to life than obtaining money, spending it, and trying to obtain more. Then there's God. God is a completely superior master. Jesus is saying if God is your master, you don't need to worry. Throughout our passage today, Jesus will be giving us reasons why God being our master, why God being our Lord, takes away our anxiety.

If God is our master, if God is the object of our praise and the master we want to please, life is so much more than just food and clothing and money. That's why Jesus says, "Is life not more than food and the body more than clothing?" The answer to this question is yes, it is more than that. Life is more than these things. This is a huge claim because normally we think and know that food and clothing are the most central parts of our life. But Jesus is saying there's something more essential, something more central to our living than food and money. And we need to know that we are more dependent on God than we are on food and clothing.

Our main point for today is that freedom from worry comes from seeing God's character. Again, our main point is: freedom from worry comes from seeing God's character. Jesus does this by making us see three different aspects of God's character. Jesus does this because it's in our reflection of who God is that we'll be freed from worry. The three methods to fight off anxiety that He provides in our passage today will be our three points, and that's to consider, observe, and seek. Point number one is consider, point number two is observe, and point number three is seek.

Consider the Birds of the Sky

Point number one: Consider. Let's read from verses 26 to 27.

Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying?

— Matthew 6:26-27 (CSB)

Worrying often comes from us hyper-fixating or focusing on something bad in our lives. We often look inward and find no solution, and we start to worry, or we look at our shortcomings or other possible threats. Jesus knows this, so He takes our eyes away from the problem and onto something else. He commands that we take our eyes off of how bad our situation might be, and put them on how good God is. A Christian must captivate his mind with God's attributes. God will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast.

So, He says to turn our eyes and attention to the birds of the sky. Birds neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns. Let's think about this for a little. This means that there's not a single bird that grew a worm in order to eat it. This means that there's not a single seagull that fried the fish and chips they stole off the pier. There's not a single Costco pigeon that threw a Costco pizza in the oven. Birds are just these flying, pooping thieves that steal food from others. But yet, God cares for them. There's not a single day that goes by without God desiring to feed these flying thieves.

Now, if our heavenly Father feeds these birds every day, how much more for those who are made in the image of God? We have never been called flying, pooping thieves. We are people made in the image of God. Notice how Jesus wants us to measure our worth up against the birds. He says, "Aren't you worth more than they?"

Brothers and sisters, do you know yourself to be worth more than a Costco pigeon? Do you believe this? Do you believe that the Father sees you, that He's moved to feed you just as He does the birds? One thing you're able to say that no pigeon known to mankind has said is, "I am made in the image of God. God loves me."

Your worry and anxiety often reveal something about your view of how God thinks of you. I remember when I started to understand more and more of what it meant for my dad to be a pastor. I started to realize that him being a pastor meant that he preached every week, and that I needed to submit myself well to him in front of others. But another thing I realized is that he was very poor. So, nine-year-old David had so much fear for a season in his life. For about two to three months, I remember asking my dad constantly, "Dad, will we be able to eat dinner tomorrow?" This reveals something about what nine-year-old David thought about his dad. Would my dad not do everything to make sure that I would get my next meal, even if it meant picking up another job?

Our worries when it comes to God's care are similar. We start to forget God's desire and concern over our provision, and we start to grow anxious. God desires to provide for you. Never forget that. One thing Jesus prescribes for anxious hearts is belief that we are worth more than birds—birds that receive God's love and care every day. So, take your eyes off of yourself or your circumstances, and look to God who sees you and is moved to care for you.

God is not just a heavenly God or a heavenly King who's looking down on you shaking His head when you make a mistake, or leaving you alone to suffer. He's a heavenly Father. That's what our text says today. Your Father is the King of the cosmos. I mean, were you there when God laid the foundations of the earth? Have you entered the storehouses of the snow? This King over all, who can do all, He's your Father. And He calls you to feast at His dining table. He prepares a table before you. He desires to be the one to feed you, and He's active in doing you good each day.

Are you starting to realize what it means for God to be our heavenly Father? It means that He is more concerned about us getting our needs met than we are concerned about receiving what we need. He cares so much about us. What righteous father would not care and make sure that we're provided for? Imagine a family with dogs, and imagine if the father was more concerned about feeding the dogs than his children. It's unthinkable. The father's love for his dog is nothing compared to the love the father has for his children.

So, take comfort in the fact that God feeds the birds, who are worth less than you. Cast your cares on Him because He genuinely cares for you. How wrong would it be for God to care more about these birds than you? And Jesus doesn't just stop there. Let's read verse 27 again.

Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying?

— Matthew 6:27 (CSB)

Jesus is building on His argument. He says we shouldn't worry because our worries accomplish nothing. Something Jesus wants us to learn about anxiety is that it's unproductive. There are many sins that give us temporary pleasures, which is why we might return to them. However, worrying is interesting because it accomplishes nothing. It gives us nothing, yet we constantly do it.

We can be worried about our relationship with others, but it's not going to make it better. We can sit and worry about our finances, but it's not going to add more money to our wallets. Worrying does nothing for you. God's concern over the birds being fed actually results in the birds getting food, but our worrying doesn't get us any food. This means when we are in need, we should not look inward, but look to God. Look to your heavenly Father who can actually do something about it.

So for those who come with anxious hearts today, consider how God's love for us is infinitely greater than the love He has for the birds He feeds every day. God's not only concerned about us getting our basic needs, but He's also concerned about us having life, and life abundantly. He's concerned about us being lavished with beauty and an excellent life. This brings us to our second point: Observe.

Observe the Wildflowers of the Field

Let us read verses 28 to 30 again.

And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith?

— Matthew 6:28-30 (CSB)

What Jesus wants us to do next is observe the wildflowers of the field, and how they grow in the field. A flower needs good soil, a couple of worms here and there, the right amount of water with a pH between 5.5 to 7, and warmth from the sun. Jesus wants us to observe how the wildflowers grow because it'll help us realize that a wildflower is completely dependent on outside sources to have life. There's nothing a flower can do or control in order to grow into beauty and serve its purpose. Nothing. It literally just stays planted, and God controls it and provides it with everything it needs to grow.

Now, why would we observe that? Brothers and sisters, God wants us to understand that He is meticulously in control of everything that comes your way. Just like a flower can't control what pH level water it receives, there are many things we can't control in our lives. We often worry when it comes to things we can't control, whether that be our children's grades, relationships with other people, or school tuition. But what we can take comfort in is that even though we might not be in control, we know Someone is in control.

A thing that cures anxiety is the realization that not everything is up to us. And why is this so freeing? Because that means even our outcomes—whatever happens with what we're worrying about—is up to God. Because it means that everything happens under God's controlling, fatherly care. Again, Jesus wants us to take our eyes off of whatever state we might be in, or even what might happen, and take comfort in God's character.

So, think about it and consider it again. A lily doesn't determine how beautiful it's going to be. God will clothe us with beauty, and beauty will mark our lives if we are His children. This means don't worry about things you can't control, or the outcome of something we might be going through, because ultimately God is controlling it. If God's control means that the lilies will be beautiful, you can rest assured that He is controlling circumstances in our lives so that we may be presented beautiful.

Jesus gives us more insight into God's character from the way He clothes the flowers of the field. In those times, a field of grass with flowers was just called grass, so though it might seem like Jesus is shifting the focus from the wildflowers to the grass, He's not. He's still focusing on the wildflowers. And Jesus says these flowers are here today, and gone tomorrow. Yet, God makes sure they're clothed with beauty.

These flowers served a very short purpose in those days. They were usually gathered after they died, or they were gathered while they were alive, and they were thrown into the oven to keep a house warm. They just burned up in the oven to keep people warm for about a day. Yet, God didn't find it wasteful to lavish them with beauty, to control everything around their circumstances to make sure they were beautiful.

How much more would God clothe and lavish with beauty those who serve the ultimate purpose of glorifying Him? We are worth more to God than lilies, than flowers are. And these flowers are not that valuable in terms of how much they do; they go away in a second. For these flowers that serve such a small purpose, God lavishes them. And notice how God doesn't just keep them alive for them to be burned—God wants to make them beautiful.

I love how my professor puts it. He says, "Our God is not a stingy God." He desires to lavish us. If God makes sure that an insignificant seed that has a lifespan of one day is beautiful, He will make sure His children—who live for His glory, who serve greater purposes than a lily, who are made in the image of God—will be lavished with beauty. He will not find it wasteful to lavish us. God has been doing this for ages. He won't stop now.

Brothers and sisters, our God is a God who bestows on us treasures beyond imagination. When we give something to another person, we lose something that we had. But God gives out of His fullness, and loses nothing. He does not and cannot exhaust Himself, and that is why God can lavish us infinitely. The Bible is teaching us that He is in control of our circumstances, not just so that we can get by every day, or just so that we can be sustained, but so that we may have beauty. He's working all things for His glory, of course, but for our good, too.

Look at what is said of the lily's beauty. Verse 29 says that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. Solomon was the richest man on the planet. He had a net worth of what scholars say was probably in the trillions these days. However, no shirts that he owned, not even the best in his wardrobe, compared to the lilies of the field. If you take a magnifying glass and zoom in on a beautiful shirt, all you'll see is fabric. But if you take a magnifying glass and zoom into a flower petal, it's way more beautiful than just fabric. I mean, man can try to make himself beautiful, but it's nothing compared to the way God lavishes us with beauty. And ultimately, what Jesus is trying to say here is that beauty that comes from God is what is desirable, not what we try to do for ourselves.

And another truth about anxiety that Jesus gives is that anxiety is a manifestation of faith. He says, "you of little faith." Jesus says to start forgetting these truths about God's fatherly love and care is one cause of anxiety. He says that at the end of verse 30: again, "you of little faith." I don't doubt that there are physical causes that lead to someone being more prone to anxiety, but the Bible is teaching that ultimately, losing sight that God loves you, losing sight of God's affections for you, God's dispositions towards you—that might be the cause of your anxiety.

Anxiety is a symptom of losing faith. Having a small view of a big God will lead to big worries. But having a big view of a big God will lead to small worries. This is why Jesus wants us to constantly renew our faith in God's goodness. When we go through troubling trials, we often start to assume what God thinks of us, or we start to get wrong ideas about God, right? It's common to hear someone going through hard times saying, "I'm not sure how God is loving me through this season," or, "God does not care about me." But Jesus wants us to fight this by telling ourselves, by seeing how God actually thinks about us and how He actually cares for us. We need to be certain about who God is when we're uncertain about what's going on. Jesus knows that this is where we'll find the peace and the comfort that we're looking for, and this is the antidote for anxiety.

So if it's hard for you to believe that God absolutely loves you and desires to lavish you with beauty, you must observe the lilies. Understand that God thinks of us much more than the beautiful flowers. And the last command Jesus gives us to fight worry is to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. This brings us to our third and last point: Seek.

Seek First the Kingdom of God

Point number three: Seek. Let us read from verses 31 to the end.

So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

— Matthew 6:31-34 (CSB)

So in light of all that Jesus just said about who our Master is, who our Father is to us, He says once again, "Don't worry." And He actually gives another reason why we shouldn't worry. He says, "Don't worry, for the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, but we shouldn't because we have a Father who knows all that we'll ever need."

Gentiles during those days, they were known to have a pantheon of gods. They had the god of rain, the god of fire, the god of clothing, the god of beauty, the god of fertility. They had a god for everything. However, none of those gods could bring them a second of lasting comfort. Their relationships with their gods were significantly different than what God wants with His children. For the Gentiles, their gods were an angry group of displeased beings whom they constantly had to please if they wanted something from them. They had to tirelessly please their gods so that the gods wouldn't get mad and strike them down. They had to perform rituals to get some rain, food, drink, and shelter. The Gentiles were always at the mercy of gods who had anger issues. Imagine how anxious they were.

The reason why these Gentiles would have worried so much is because their gods were so hard to please and were so angry at them. This is not only characteristic of Gentiles during those days, but of people these days who live for the world. This world will tell you that if you make money, if you sacrifice your morals, if you live according to your flesh, if you do well according to the world's standard, then you'll be happy, satisfied, and fulfilled. If you serve any other god, everything will be dependent on you. Your happiness, your peace, your satisfaction will all be based on how well you do. And a life that's dependent on how well you do—it'll lead to an anxious life. Imagine the burden you have if your chance at having one glorious life was all dependent on you.

But we are at the mercy of a gracious, caring Shepherd. Our God is such a different Master. He never said, "David, figure out your problem with your sin, then I'll send Jesus Christ to die for you." No. God demonstrates His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were enemies, though He would be completely right to strike us down for cosmic treason, He sends His Son to live the life we could never live, to die the death we were supposed to die, and resurrect so that we may be clothed with Christ's righteousness.

The gospel makes it clear that we contributed nothing to our salvation. God doesn't say, "Follow me well, and I will give you everything." He gives us everything, He gives us Christ, and then He says, "Follow me." So though the gods of the Gentiles would never step down from their throne of glory, our God would lay His life down for us. So, if you're worried about your salvation in the Lord, or maybe you just feel like God abandoned you in this season of life, and that He has no reason to constantly care for you, look towards the cross. Maybe you're questioning God's love for you because you're going through something hard—look at the cross. The cross is why you became a child of God, and the cross is why God will continue to care for you and lavish you.

If you're not a Christian, I encourage you to consider this superior Master. Repent of your sins for following another master who doesn't even care about you, and trust that only God is the Master worth serving, the King worth submitting to.

Jesus wants us to be confident in our heavenly Father. Why? Because our heavenly Father knows what we need. Jesus says we shouldn't worry because there is Someone who knows all that we need. God doesn't just know about our existence or about our name or ethnicity, brothers and sisters. God doesn't just check in on us once in a while; He knows us intimately. This God who numbered all the stars, who's responsible for every single blade of grass, or every bird that flies in the air, every person in the world—He knows you intimately. He knows everything about you. He knows you perfectly. Your Father knows your pain, He knows your future, He knows your past, your struggles, even your worries. He doesn't just see it and forget it; He sees and remembers it, He sees and He responds to it.

If God knew our needs and didn't do anything about it, He would not be a good father. So, we can take comfort in the truth that God knows what we need, and that He actually does something about it.

When I was younger, I supposedly asked my grandpa for a knife. He said I would throw a tantrum and cry, begging him to give me a knife. For me, I really felt like I needed that knife. If I just had that one knife, my life would be complete. But my grandpa knew that I didn't need it, and he knew that giving it to me would do more harm than good. So, he didn't give me the knife. And when I was younger, I didn't understand why he didn't give me the knife. But if I understood my grandpa to be a good, loving, and caring grandpa, I would have trusted him, and been okay with not having the knife.

We can also be comforted in the truth that God knows what we need. We may beg God for something, and we may not get it. We can let go of our anxieties because God knows what we need. If you are desiring something today, something that makes you worry because you don't have it, know that the Lord knows whether you need it or not. Jesus is wanting you to find peace, not in what you have—nothing here on earth—but in our heavenly Father.

So instead of worrying about us having all that we'll need, Jesus gives His last command to anxious hearts. He says seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and He promises that all these things will be given to us as well. This is one of the most famous verses in the Bible, but this verse was said in the context of Jesus teaching about worrying. So, what does this verse even have to do with anxiety?

At first, this verse might seem to be saying that if we serve God wholeheartedly, all our problems will go away. We'll have food, we'll have clothing, we'll have money, we'll have peace, we won't have anxiety anymore. Honestly, I thought that's what this verse meant, too. I've been memorizing this verse for two years, and I always thought that's what it meant. But I don't think that's Jesus' point at all.

Context is key. In Luke's parallel passage, it says that Jesus was teaching this to the disciples. The disciples would later go on to be persecuted for their faith, imprisoned, where they often lacked food and clothing. The Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:

On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing.

— 2 Corinthians 11:26-27 (CSB)

So, what just happened? Didn't Jesus promise us to take care of His saints by clothing us and feeding us? Did His promises fail? Did Jesus lie? No.

So, what is Jesus doing when He says that all these things will be provided for us? I think Jesus is saying that we will have all the food we need, all the clothing we need, all the housing, all the drink, all the energy we need—just the right amount to carry out the will of God. We will have all that we need in order to bring glory to God. And this makes total sense within the backdrop of Jesus saying we can't serve two masters.

If God is our Master, this means we fully, wholly devote ourselves to God. That means our greatest desire is to glorify God and praise Him. That means our life is more than just eating, drinking, and being clothed. Our life is about bringing glory to God. This is the glorious and beautiful life. To this, Jesus is saying that we will have all that we need in order to do this. This should make a Christian glad and worry-free. God will help us accomplish what our hearts desire most, which is to bring God glory and to be satisfied in Him.

Now, if this truth is disappointing to you, I wonder where your treasure is. Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. This is why if we focus our eyes on the treasures of this world, and if our ambition is to please ourselves, it'll be a life full of anxiety. But if we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, if we focus our eyes on God, and if we desire to glorify Him, we can rest assured that our God will be glorified. What we want most in our lives will happen.

I believe Jesus wanted disciples to find their peace not in a perfect life, but in a perfect God. Again, Jesus didn't want us to find peace in a perfect, smooth-sailing life, but He wants us to find peace in God's character.

So, here's how we should interpret God's loving care over us, that is more than the birds and the lilies. Nothing that happens to us, whether good or bad, is happening outside of the Father's heavenly love and care for us. Even if you're going through your worst moments, you are able to say that God loves you, that He loves you more than the birds, that He cares for you more than them, that He's lavishing you actively in this moment, more than He does the lilies. Everything that God allots us daily—any blessing, any pain, any struggle, any heartbreak—is from His view that we are more worthy than birds and the grass of the field.

That means if you find out something terrible happened in your life, or you might not have tuition for the next semester, or you don't know what the next school year can bring—if God didn't give you what you really want, it doesn't mean that God has suddenly grown cold to you. We can know that God is controlling everything because He cares for us, because He wants to lavish us. What we can know for sure, and what Jesus wants us to hold on to, is that because our God is a caring Father, we are being loved, and we are being lavished beyond imagination. It means that everything's happening under the watch of a caring, loving, gentle Father.

Here's a gospel framework we should live by: the gospel never promises gifts, or health, or anything else. But the gospel does promise God. God is the gospel. This is the best gift we receive when we're saved. If you don't believe this, your life will be an anxious one, and you'll always want something more than God. Jesus here in our text today, as an antidote for anxiety, is not offering us gifts or a perfect life—He's offering us God.

I remember a story of a faithful churchgoer who renounced her faith in Christ. She said she didn't want to go to church anymore, and someone asked her, "Why?" She said that going to church did her no good. She said she gave and worshiped God for 15 years, and everything was still wrong in her life. So, she left.

Now, a lot of Christians will have similar experiences of going through difficult matters, even though they were faithful church members for 40 years. There are many faithful Christians who go to church, yet their life is full of trouble. So, why should anyone stay in the faith when times get hard? What was this lady missing?

We should stay because we have God. God is our greatest treasure. Though circumstances may shake and uncertainties may arise, God will never change. Though what we were hoping in may let us down, God will never let us down. Though all other joys may never fill you, God will always be the perfect source of joy. Though your pain and sorrows may seem great, God's comfort—God Himself—is greater. Brothers and sisters, do you know you have such a God? And if God is your God, what else do you need? Why do you fear? Do not worry. You have the best possible thing imaginable.

And this interpretation of verse 33, having nothing to do with a perfect life or with material wealth, is proven all the more by the last verse. Let's read the last verse together.

Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

— Matthew 6:34 (CSB)

Sufficient for the Day

This is kind of an unusual way that we would expect Jesus to end His teaching on anxiety. If He was promising us all three meals, clothing, and a perfect life, He would have said something like, "So, count your blessings every day," or, "Be thankful for the perfect life I will give you." However, He says that today has enough trouble of its own. Jesus doesn't want us to worry about tomorrow because it wastes the energy we are supposed to use today on tomorrow.

Lamentations 3:22-23 says each morning God's mercies are new. So, if you dread tomorrow coming, know that God will have new mercies for you. He will never forget about you. Each morning that you wake up, He's already there prepared to give you His mercy. One theologian puts it this way: "You may not know what tomorrow holds, but you know who holds tomorrow."

The cure for anxiety is not in knowing the future, but in knowing God. There's something greater than your future. And though you might not know your future, you know Something greater than your future, which is God.

I don't know what you're currently going through, and I don't know what fears or worries are taking up most of your mind. Maybe it's your job, maybe it's your finances, maybe it's your child. Jesus wants you to know that there's Someone who is in control of your situation. And the God who is in control of your situation is not some weak, incapable, angry god. He is your heavenly Father. And you know this God, and your heavenly Father knows you and all that you need.

So, when you are anxious, don't just stare at your problem. Consider the birds, observe the lilies, and seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. See what it means to have and know such a God.

Let's pray.

Our Father in heaven, help us to remember what it means that You're our God, our Master, and our Father. We pray that Your will be done and that Your kingdom come, because that's what's best for us, too. And God, we have learned from today's text that You'll give us our daily bread for that very purpose. So, please remind us that we mean more to You than the birds of the sky and the lilies of the field. We love You. We thank You, and it's to Your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.

Whatever you're going through, God allowed it. It's all happening according to your God's fatherly care. Though sorrow, death, or need be ours, we are not forsaken. That's exactly why we can say that whatever our God ordains is right. So, let's stand to sing our last song, "Whatever Our God Ordains is Right."