MAT 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
I want to talk to you today about provisions....God’s provisions for His people. Some might look at that text and say "hey, pastor.....does that mean we don’t have to work for a living? It says not to worry about tomorrow"! Some might even quote PHIL 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. We all know that’s not an excuse to sit back and not take up our responsibilities to provide for ourselves and our family. Remember 1 TIM 5:8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. We don’t want to be infidels!!!
Seriously, we all know that it is necessary for us to work to make a living. Most of the time no one is going to give you anything without something in return (your boss wants work in exchange for a paycheck)...and God expects you to take care of your responsibilities with Him as He showers His blessings out to you. The difference between Him and your boss is that you may be able to hide behind stuff where the boss can’t see if you’re working....but God always knows! You can’t fool Him ANY of the time!
Here’s the problem....we sometimes get so caught up in working and earning a living that we leave God out. Listen, Christians.... you would not even have a job to go to if God hadn’t provided it for you! You might say "look here, Pastor....I’m good at my job! That’s why I get the big bucks (got any extra?)! In JOHN 15:5 Jesus says "without Me you can do nothing." Listen, work is necessary, without the blessing of God it is futile.
God is not against human effort. Hard work honors God and you, as a Christian, should be the hardest working employee of the company. You are an example.But working to the exclusion of rest or to the neglect of family (yours and Gods) may be a cover-up for an inability to trust God to provide for our needs. We all need adequate rest and times of spiritual refreshment. Be careful to maintain a balance: work while trusting God, and also rest while trusting him.
Accomplishments in life, of whatever dimension, come as the result of God’s gift. He provides the skill for accomplishment and
allows us to complete projects we start. This does not call us to idleness in the face of His sovereignty but to gratitude as we labor with Him to accomplish His purposes on earth. One of the things that Nanci and I enjoy about small-town pastoring is that we know our church is full of honest hard working folks. And you guys are faithful to pay your tithes, too! Most churches come no where near the percentage of participation that we do here. Praise God for that! We are extremly blessed and you are enjoying God’s blessings if you are doing what God expects from you.
"What do you mean, Pastor? God hasn’t opened up the money tree for me! I work hard for what I get!" Yes, that’s what I just said. But have you ever considered what MIGHT happen to you and your family if you weren’t in God’s will? Sometimes we might not be able to physically SEE the results of His blessings.....but God does NOT lie ROM 3:4 says let every man be a liar, but Gods word be true....and God will do His part if you are doing your part! He may be protecting you from some evil you don’t even know about! Doing things in the spiritual realm that you have no idea how He has protected you...EPH 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
We don’t have ANY idea what God has saved us from today already! There is no way of knowing if you might have had a car accident...one of your kids might have had something happen...maybe Satan had a VERY bad day planned for you! Again, God is NOT a liar, and He has promised you that if you seek HIm first, everything else will be added to you. He WILL provide all you needs according to His riches in glory, and He is the richest one ever...He owns EVERYTHING and wants to share it with us! The trouble is that we tend to see the bad and not trust God to make good on His promises to you. That’s why we need to learn to walk how? By faith, and NOT by sight. What is faith? The substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things...(that’s right)..not seen! We can’t always SEE Gods protection, but we have faith that it is there. He is with us always...even to the end!
PSALMS 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. Look, it doesn’t matter how much money you make here on earth. Unless God is involved in your life, you will NEVER have enough money. One thing I noticed whenever I was in the world was that no matter how much money I made, I spent it and it was never enough. It is amazing that I could live on $120 a week, then get a job making twice that and have the same money problems I always had! By the same manner, it is amazing how God supplies for Nanci and I now. I don’t know how He does it, but He can make our money stretch whenever I think that there is no way we can afford something we need. He just does that....we’ve got a great big, wonderful God!
Church, put God first in your life. If you are having an unusually hard time of it, if you are experiencing family problems, if you just can’t find time to do everything you need to do....find the time for god. He will give you back the time you give to Him plus some. On top of that, He will bless in your life because you are doing what He expects you to do. Don’t you expect God to do what He says He’ll do? Don’t you think God expects you to do what you’re supposed to do? Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it
You can work from now til the cows come home (whenever that is), but if you are leaving out God, all your work is for naught. MAT 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Folks, no one can steal your salvation.....but you sure can let it wax cold by leaving God out...only calling upon Him when you think you need Him (you always need Him)...and by getting so busy working that you can’t come to church because you’re too tired....or you gotta work. Remember, God loves you and will provide when you sacrifice for Him.
So...how blessed are you? If you woke up this morning with more health than illness,
you are more blessed than the million who won’t survive the week.
If you were able to read along in your Bible this morning, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read anything at all.
If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 20 million people around the world.
If you attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than almost three billion people in the world.
If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.
If you can hold someone’s hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder, you are blessed because you can offer God’s healing touch.
