E. Stanley Jones, a missionary to India in the early 1900’s, stated, “I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is grasping for breath - these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely - these are my native air.”(1) Jones had a better quality of life through faith than by worry. In fact, he said that worry caused him to feel as though he were grasping for breath; and there are many believers today who feel this way.
Park Tucker, a former chaplain of the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia, tells us, “Many people are walking around half-dead because worry has built a mountain of problems over which there is no path, and they have surrendered to fate.”(2) Worry causes us to feel as though we’re grasping for breath and walking around half-dead. In fact, the English word “worry” comes from an Anglo-Saxon word that means “to strangle.”(3)
Corrie Ten Boom declared, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”(4) If you’re going through some dilemma or problem in life and find yourself completely immersed in that situation trying to come up with a solution, and you tend to think about it day and night, then you know all too well how worry feels. Worry zaps our life and drains our strength; and in our message this morning we’re going to see that in order to have true life in the Lord, we must place all our cares and burdens in the hands of Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Pt 5:7).
Worrying About Food and Clothing (vv. 22-23)
Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing” (Luke 12:22-23).
Two things that are abundant in America are food and clothing. Jesus once spoke of having abundance of life (Jn 10:10); and if a person could ever have abundance of life in a material sense, it would be in today’s western culture and society. We know, however, that Jesus was referring to abundant spiritual life, and not material things.
We have so much available food that people are using it as a substitute for life, trying to fill their emptiness inside with an addiction to food, resulting in rampant obesity and major health issues. We’re presented with so much temptation today to wear the latest fashion, that some people will spend most of their income on clothing, and then have to “worry” about how to meet the other expenses in life.
It’s strange that in a place where you find an abundance of food and clothing that we worry about these things. You would expect it in a poverty-stricken country; however, we can’t seem to wait for the next morsel of food, or the next big shopping spree! We think these things will bring us happiness and satisfaction, but once we obtain them we’re still left empty with a deep void inside, and we’re completely discontented.
In 1 Timothy 6:8, the apostle Paul said, “We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” We should be satisfied with the food we have on our table and the clothing on our body; however, like most Americans, many of us are dissatisfied. We worry about acquiring all these things, because we think they’ll bring us true life and fulfillment, but they can’t. In Luke 12:23, Jesus said, “Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.”
In John chapter six, we read that Jesus once fed five thousand people from five loaves of bread and two fish (Jn 6:4-14). The very next day the people came looking for Jesus, and He told them,
You seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you . . .
My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world . . . I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst (John 6:26-27, 33, 35).
You see, life is more than food, for true life is found in Jesus Christ! Once our spiritual hunger is satisfied, then we’ll obtain abundant life.
Life is also more than clothing, and what we “put on.” This expression “put on” is found elsewhere in the Bible in reference to how a believer should clothe himself in Christ. For example, Paul admonished the believers in Rome, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Rom 13:14).
Paul informed the believers in Colossae to “put on love, which is the bond of perfection” (Col 3:14), and noted that when they did, the peace of God would rule in their hearts and they would be thankful (3:15); once again revealing that spiritual satisfaction and abundant life is found in Jesus and not in earthly things!
In Luke 12:15, Jesus said, “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” If we wish to avoid fretting over material things and possessions, then we need to refocus our attention to Jesus Christ, who is called the “author of life” (Acts 3:15, NIV), as He came to bring us abundant life.
Worry Will Not Add to Life (vv. 24-28)
Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? (Luke 12:24-28).
Jesus provided some examples of God’s provision that we can observe around us each and every day. He explained how the ravens don’t plant fields, tend crops or reap any harvests, and yet they’re still fed; and the flowers don’t do any work, or spin wool to make clothing for themselves, and yet their beautiful colors are more glorious than the fine clothing of a king like Solomon. He then pointed out that God is the one who feeds the birds and makes the flowers beautiful.
If we’re making it a point to love Jesus and we’re following Him and serving Him to the best of our ability, then all our needs will be met. They key word that I want to emphasize is “needs,” or the basic necessities of life. Many times when we fret about food and clothing, we’re actually striving to fulfill an insatiable and irrational desire for more than we really need to live on.
If we ever have a real need, and if we ever wind up in a tough spot while serving the Lord, then God will supply all our needs. In Philippians 4:19, Paul said, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” There’s no point in worrying, for the Lord will supply all our basic needs.
Jesus asked, “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” (Lk 12:25). “The length of the cubit makes it 20.24 inches for the ordinary cubit, and 21.88 inches for the sacred one.”(5) Jesus basically asked how a person can add almost two feet to his height by worrying about it. The answer is that no one can; and the point He was making is that worrying doesn’t amount to anything being added to one’s life.
We worry because we think that we can add things to our life (good things, or the things we want), but worry results in anguish and feelings of being torn apart. It doesn’t add to one’s life at all, but rather, it subtracts from life; and it drains us emotionally and spiritually, and it sucks the life right out of us!
Jesus then asked, “If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?” (Lk 12:26). In other words, worrying about getting taller doesn’t result in growing in stature. Therefore, how can worrying about food and clothing or having monetary abundance result in obtaining it? If worrying can’t change something really small, then it certainly won’t change something really big. It’s simply a waste of time!
Jesus said, “O you of little faith” (Lk 12:28). Hebrews tells us about faith, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (11:1). If we worry then we simply don’t have faith in God, for faith is just the opposite of worry. In worry we get a notion of the future and try to take it into our own hands. In faith we get a notion of the future, but we turn it over to God and place it in His hands.
In faith we place the future in God’s hands, knowing that He “will” provide, and that He’s “able” to provide. In Romans 8:32, we read, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Since the Lord provided for mankind’s greatest need, which is salvation from the consequence of sin; then it stands to reason that He can especially provide for the much smaller things in life.
The World Is Anxious and Fearful (vv. 29-32)
And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:29-32).
Jesus said that we shouldn’t “seek” what we should eat or drink, meaning that we shouldn’t be obsessed over acquiring these things. Why? “For all these things the nations of the world seek after” (Lk 12:30). All the nations of the earth live in daily fear and anxiety over material things; and as believers in Christ, we’re supposed to live with expectancy and trust in God’s provision.
Warren Wiersbe says, “[Worry] keeps us from growing and it makes us like the unsaved in the world . . . How can we witness to a lost world and encourage them to put faith in Jesus Christ if we ourselves are doubting God and worrying? Is it not inconsistent to preach faith and then not practice it?”(6)
If we’re living in worry then we’re not exhibiting abundance of life in Christ. As believers, we’re supposed to be light-bearers and life-givers on behalf of the Lord Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:11-12). We’re supposed to help the world find life in Christ, but if we are devoid of life ourselves through worry, acting no different than the rest of the world, then we’ll be of no effect; or worse, of ill-effect.
There’s no point in seeking the things of the world that lead to worry anyhow, for the Father will give us the world – not this one, but the next. Jesus said, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Lk 12:32), and the kingdom will be established on earth – not this present earth, but on the brand new earth that the Lord will re-create in that final Day (cf. Rv 21:1-3).
The nations seek after food and clothing and thereby have an “anxious mind.” Many times in the Bible we read that the Lord “scattered the nations” (cf. Gn 11:8-9; Is 33:3); and if we live in continual worry, then we too will feel like we’re scattered, torn apart and divided. Henry Ward Beecher said,
Last week I met a brother who, describing a friend of his, said he was like a man who had dropped a bottle, and broken it, and put all the pieces in his bosom, where they were cutting him perpetually. I have seen persons with troubles and cares that seemed like one that had fragments of glass in his bosom, that cut him, and that cut him the more the tighter he pressed them to his heart.(7)
Jesus said we shouldn’t have an “anxious mind” (Lk 12:29). Warren Wiersbe says, “The word translated [‘worry’ back in] Luke 12:22 means ‘to be torn apart’ and the phrase ‘[anxious] mind’ [in] Luke 12:29 means ‘to be held in suspense.’ It is the picture of a ship being tossed in a storm”(8) ready to fall apart.
James speaks about being a double-minded man (Jas 1:8) who’s like a wave of the sea tossed back and forth by the wind (1:6). Worry and anxiety will cause us to feel cut and torn apart, divided in two different directions, lost and drowning at sea, as though the very life is being sucked right out of us.
Worry is closely related to fear, and in verse thirty-two, Jesus stated, “Do not fear, little flock.” In 2 Timothy 1:7, Paul said, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” If we’ll let go of worry and fear and begin to walk by faith, then we’ll have a sound mind; or rather, one that’s undivided and not torn apart by worry. With peace of mind comes peace in life; and thus, abundant life!
Jesus said, “But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you” (Lk 12:31). Seeking the kingdom of God is focusing on the Lord and His work, and looking to Him in all we do. Seeking the kingdom is trusting God with our life. Worry is seeking what we can do on our own, apart from God; and thus, it demonstrates that we really don’t trust the Lord with our life.
An old Jamaican proverb states, “If you’re going to pray, don’t worry; if you’re going to worry, don’t pray.”(9) Oswald Chambers said, “All worry is caused by calculating without God,” and Billy Graham stated, “Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered on anything short of God and His will for us.”(10)
If we can’t learn to trust the Lord with our life then we’ll always walk about in confusion, not knowing God’s purpose or plan; and thereby, living with a deficiency of abundant life. Proverbs 3:5-7 admonishes, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes.”
If we’ll acknowledge the Lord, and seek the kingdom first (Lk 12:31; Mt 6:33), then we can begin to live in the present moment. Today is called the “present” because it’s a “gift.” If we can learn to live today without worry, then we can begin to enjoy the gift of abundant life in Jesus Christ.
Time of Reflection
In the hymn “Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus,” we read, “O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see? There’s a light for a look at the Savior, and life more abundant and free! Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”
If you have a worry, then take it to the Lord; or if you have a specific need, then bring it to the Lord, and focus only on Him. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
If you’re seeking peace and abundant life, it’s found only in God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Eternal life, and salvation from your sins, is also found in Jesus; for we read in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” I want to invite you to walk the aisle today and receive abundant life and eternal life in Jesus Christ.
If you’re a believer who’s living in worry, you can receive this abundance of life by repenting of any mistrust, and by following the Lord wholeheartedly in faith this very day. And if you’re lost, not knowing Jesus Christ, you can receive eternal life by repenting of your sins and by confessing Jesus as Savior and Lord. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
NOTES
(1) Grant Martin, Transformed by Thorns (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), p. 95.
(2) Park Tucker, Gospel Herald.
(3) Warren Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1992), taken from Logos 2.1 on CD-ROM.
(4) Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1, New Testament (Wheaton, Il: Victor Books, 1989), p. 222.
(5) M. G. Easton, “Cubit,” Easton’s Bible Dictionary, on Logos 2.1E CD-ROM (Oak Harbor, WA: 1996).
(6) Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, p. 222.
(7) Stories for Preachers and Teachers, on CD-ROM.
(8) Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, p. 221.
(9) Rodrick Walters, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” Gulf Meadows Baptist Church, April 11, 1995.
(10) “How to Win Over Worry,” John Maxwell, December 1991.
