Don't Worry Series

Don’t Worry

Matthew 6:25-34

Well, last week we talked about money. How do you look at money? Were you challenged at all this past week with your money? How was it this week when you decided how much was going to go in the offering plate this week? I hope that it was an act of worship this week if it hasn’t been previous.

Jesus follows his talk about money with a section on worry. This seems so appropriate to me since so many of us worry about money. I know that I do. I worry about if I will have enough money to pay all of the bills every month. I worry about what if we were hit by something catastrophic, where would the money come from. I worry about will Tyler have enough money to pay for his college and how much debt will my kids be saddled with when they graduate? I am sure that many of you can associate with these same worries about money.

We worry about the economy and the markets. What will the price of corn and beans do? There are more things we worry about then just economics. We worry about the future with all kinds of things. Will our kids follow Jesus, will they pass all their classes. We worry about things like are we good enough, are we pretty enough, do people like me and the list goes on and on. Maybe your worries even look like this…..

Show video “Worst Case Scenario” – From Worshiphousemedia.com

What is it that you worry about? Let’s see what Jesus had to say about this. Read Matthew 6:25-34

Don’t worry. Jesus was obviously talking to the people right then and there right and not to us. Jesus wasn’t staring at a broken political system with an upcoming election that looks like a mess. Jesus wasn’t in a time where traditional values are under assault right? He couldn’t possibly mean this for us could he?

I don’t know Jesus is telling the people to not worry. He himself will soon be facing death and all kinds of pleasantries and he says not to worry.

Most of us have a decision to make when it comes to meal time. It isn’t are we going to eat, it is what are we going to eat. In the morning when I get ready I stare at my closet and try to figure out what I am going to wear today. Am I feeling like dressing up a little bit more or am I going for a comfort look. What is the weather today? Do I need the warmth of a sweater or is it short sleeve weather. I don’t worry about not having clothes.

Jesus is telling the people here to not worry especially what you will eat and what you will wear. God had provided for these very necessities before in Israel’s history so why would he not provide for them again.

In the book of Deuteronomy Moses is reminding the people of how God has provided from them during their forty years of wandering. How do you pack when you are going on a trip? I remember when I was young and we would go on a trip my parents would pack sandwiches and food for us to eat. We would stop at a rest stop on park to eat our lunch. We had a pick-up camper and so we would fix all of our food along the way. When we ran out we simply stopped at the grocery store and restocked our supplies.

How does one pack for a forty year journey in the desert? And on a short time frame as well. The children of Israel went from slave to journeyer very quickly so there was not a lot of time to prepare. There was no store to stop and resupply. They did not have time to plant a crop to harvest. So what did they do in times of hunger?

God took care of their needs by sending them manna from heaven. They were out of food and they were crying out to Moses and he went to God and the Lord provided manna. The Lord was not leading them out of Egypt to only have them starve to death. God does not provide them with all kinds of food; no he provides them with manna. He provided for their needs. When the people would collect extra it would rot and become infested with maggots. The Lord also provided them at times with quail as well.

Days and years on end of manna I’m sure got quite old. God however was faithful, which couldn’t always be said for the people. I’m sure they did their share of complaining about the manna. God however had allowed them to go hungry first before he provided for their needs. God had a way of reminding them just how much they needed to rely upon their Heavenly Father. Without this manna from heaven they would starve. Moses is taking time in Deut. 4:8 to remind the people of how the Lord provided and to not forget how they needed to rely on him.