WHO DO YOU TRUST?
Matthew 6:25-30
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?
Four times in Matthew’s gospel Jesus accused the disciples of not having enough faith in God. He was actually saying that they had no faith at all. We either have faith or we don’t. The problem with the disciples was that they didn’t have any. The word for faith in the New Testament refers to our confidence and this world being what it is confidence in God is an absolute necessity.
In these four passages the Word reminds us of why faith or confidence in God is so necessary and vital. Look at what faith in God does for us and see if we couldn’t use just a little bit more of it today.
1. CONFIDENCE IN GOD PROVIDES FOR OUR BASIC NECESSITIES (Matthew 6:28-30):
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? (“lacking confidence”)
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus reminded His disciples that since they belonged to God He had assumed responsibility for the basic necessities of their lives. He reminded them that clothing, food, and drink were things God knew they all needed and had provided for in the past. Remember the people of God in the wilderness – how their clothing and shoes did not wear out, how they ate manna from heaven and drank water from a rock?
Worrying about stuff God has already promised to provide does no good. A lack of faith in this area will weaken our testimony and take the joy right out of life and living.
2. CONFIDENCE IN GOD STANDS GUARD AGAINST OUR WORST NIGHTMARES (Matthew 8:23-27):
23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"
26 But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
When the disciples got into the boat to cross the Sea of Galilee they were just doing what Jesus had told them to do. This was something no doubt they had done many times. They had no idea that one of the most terrifying events of their lives would overtake them before they could get to the other side. This is the way life is. Life is a mystery and we never know what it holds from one minute to the next. This is why we need someone to go with us every step of the way.
Worrying about the unknown and the potential terrors of this life makes us weak and fearful. Alone and afraid is no way to go through life. God is good for both the known and the unknown – for days that are bright and sunny and even days when things couldn’t get any worse.
FEAR
During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev denounced many of the policies and atrocities of Joseph Stalin. Once, as he censured Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was interrupted by a shout from a heckler in the audience. "You were one of Stalin's colleagues. Why didn't you stop him?" "Who said that?" roared Khrushchev. An agonizing silence followed as nobody in the room dared move a muscle. Then Khrushchev replied quietly, "Now you know why."
3. CONFIDENCE IN GOD RESCUES US FROM OUR PERSONAL FAILURES (Matthew 14:30-32):
30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
If nothing else this passage proves that we have to be careful what we ask for. Peter asked Jesus to allow him to walk on the water and he did – at least for a step or two. Peter’s short trip almost ended in disaster because he took his eyes off Jesus. We’re all going to look at something in this world. Either we will focus on Jesus or we will be overwhelmed by the storms of life. We might say that Peter got in over his head. If nothing else Peter learned from this experience that failure is never final. Thankfully, when Jesus got in the boat he brought Peter with Him.
Faith or confidence in God will get us through when we come up short in life. Knowing that God will catch us when we fall makes life a lot less scary.
4. CONFIDENCE IN GOD REMINDS US OF OUR FORGOTTEN BLESSINGS (Matthew 16:6-8):
6 Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."
7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread."
8 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?
Jesus was teaching the disciples about the warped teachings of the Pharisees and their perversions of the Word of God. As was often the case, either because they were not paying attention or they were just too spiritually immature to understand, they had no idea what He was talking about. They thought Jesus was complaining that they had forgotten to bring something to eat. How many times a day do you think God just shakes His head at us and wonders how we could possibly be that spiritually dense?
The lesson here is obvious. Jesus had fed the disciples and thousands of others with a little boy’s lunch. The disciples had seen Him do it and had even eaten of the bread and the fish themselves. Because of what He has done for us in the past God has earned the right to expect that we’ll trust Him for both today and tomorrow.
I PAINTED THAT
The American painter, John Sargent, once painted a panel of roses that was highly praised by critics. It was a small picture, but it approached perfection. Although offered a high price for it on many occasions, Sargent refused to sell it. He considered it his best work and was very proud of it. Whenever he was deeply discouraged and doubtful of his abilities as an artist, he would look at it and remind himself, "I painted that." Then his confidence and ability would come back to him.
