| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “The end of anxiety and fear” Our Bible verse for today: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” Matthew 6:33 (CSB) Our thought for today: “God has your back” Are you familiar with what we call “The do not worry” passage in the New Testament? It appears twice, in slightly different formats, once in Matthew 6:25-34 and again in Luke 12:22-34. It’s a parable told by Jesus to illustrate the sovereignty of God, as well as His watch-care over us and His provision for us. In the story Jesus explains that God is aware of everything, and He is in control of everything. In the whole universe. Everything. Everywhere. And He cares about it all. Including all the little details. Jesus tells of God’s attention to detail regarding things like lilies in the fields and food for the birds. He reminds us that there also isn’t a single need we have, or challenge we face, or concern we have to deal with, that God isn’t aware of and capable of dealing with for us. And, our issues are much more important to him than the colors of flowers or worms for the birds. But since He does in fact attend to such minor and unimportant details regarding flowers and birds, then you can be assured He will attend to the details of your life too because (as Jesus says), you are much more important to Him than flowers or birds or anything else. The key, according to Jesus, is found in Matthew 6:33 and again in Luke 12:31 – seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and leave the rest to Him. That doesn’t mean that you have no responsibility for your own well-being, for a job and security and financial accountability, etc. But it does mean that if your most important concern is to honor God with your life and to serve others in His name, then God has your back. You take care of His business and He will look after yours. Even psychologists and professional counselors will tell you that the most unhappy and least well-adjusted people are those who are self-absorbed and compulsively fixated on themselves and on all their own perceived problems and concerns. The happiest and most well-adjusted people tend to be those who keep the focus on God and on others. These people do what Jesus called for in those verses, they give most of their attention, emotional energy, and efforts to serving God and others, and they trust God for the rest of life. They still do their part to take care of and provide for themselves, but they don’t obsess about it. They don’t have to. They know that God has their back. Do you? Do you go through life with the calm assurance that your Heavenly Father loves you, is watching over you, and is taking care of you? He is. And embracing that truth is key to putting an end to a life characterized by anxiety, fear, and despair. I encourage you to become more God-focused and more others-focused, and a little less you-focused. Matthew 6:33 promises that if you take care of God’s business, He will take care of yours. He will have your back. God bless, Pastor Jim |
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