Take No Thought for Your Life

This has been a pretty rough year for our economy. The nation has been dealing with problems of foreclosures, companies closing down, banks having problems and massive job losses. It is a time when people all around are wondering how they are going to pay their bills, buy groceries, and keep the mortgage paid. Every where you turn, people are talking about recession. It's doom and gloom conversation.

Recently somebody asked me how I was holding up in this recesssion. My answer to them, "I'm not participating."

Really, that's my answer. I am not participating. You ask, how can I say that? Easy. I choose to believe God and his way of doing things. Me and my wife are steadily increasing while everyone else seems to be having a hard time. Let me explain.

In the Bible, Matthew 6:25-33, Jesus is explaining about anxiety. He starts off in verse 25:

"Therefore I tell you, stop being perpetually uneasy, anxious, and worried about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, or about your body, what you shall put on..."

The first instruction from Jesus is not to worry about being able to take care of yourself.

verse 26:

"Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth more than they?"

The next instruction is whenever you are attempted to worry look at the birds and how God takes care of them even though they don't sow or reap or gather into barns. He says that you as people are more important and better than the birds who God makes sure has plenty to eat.

verse 27:

"Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature"

Jesus explains that by worrying or "taking thought" about the problem is not going to solve the problem. You see, worrying is a negative form of "meditating" on the situation. Nothing changes when you spend all night stressing out about the situation that you are going through.

verse 31-32:

"Therefore do not worry and be anxious saying 'What are we going to eat or What are we going to have to drink or What are we going to have to wear? For the heathen wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you neeed them all"

Because you can't do anything to help the problem by simply worrying and constantly saying "How are we going to make it..." Jesus says, remember that even the people who don't have a relationship with God is out seeking the very same things. But the key thing to know is that your heavenly Father already knows that you need these things. One thing that is important to realize, is that those who have a relationship with God have a "Father" who takes care of the things that they need. Think about it. God is not a deadbeat dad! He knows that you have need of these things when everyone in the world is seeking the same things. Then he tells you how to get things taken care of in the next verse.

verse 33:

"But seek first (aim at and strive after) God's kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing things) and then all these things will be added to you."

The answer is first to trust God and then seek His way of taking care of situations. You must understand that the way God's Word says to handle situations and the way the world's system says to take care of things are different. If you have a relationship with the Father, you must read the Bible to find out what His way of handling situations is. For example, in a situation where there seems to not be enough money to take care of a bill or something, the world system says to first go and borrow from the bank, or to borrow from friends or to beg or steal. But that is not how things are handled in God's system. God's way of us handling this situation is to give to others. Luke 6:38 says "Give and it will be given to you, good measure, shaken together and running over, and people will go out of there way to give and favor you." Another example is in the book of John 6:1-14 where there were five thousand people who were fed when there was not enough. A little boy took his not enough (two fish and five loaves) and gave it away, and it was multiplied and the boy took home twelve baskets full of fish and bread.

It doesn't seem to make much sense but I told you, for those with a relationship with God, and trust him this is the way that is higher than the world's system. You see the system that the world operates in is based in selfishness and operates by fear. Money situations in the world go like this..."Get all you can, then can all you get, then sit on the can!" But God's system of operation is based entirely in love (opposite of selfishness) and operates by faith and trust in God who will always pull through!

Finally in Matthew 6:34 it says: "So don't worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble."

God's promise to those that have a relationship with Him is to take care of them each day. That is why in the Lord's prayer it says to "give us THIS day our daily bread." Don't spend time worrying about tomorrow. God will take care of you today. So thank him that you have the food to eat TODAY, and that the lights are on TODAY! This is how my wife and I live... trusting and believing God and we are experiencing increasing in every area of our lives. While everyone is out celebrating recession we are enjoying things getting better and better everyday. We trust God as our only source. He gives us the jobs, he provides us with the favor, he causes us to always be in the right place at the right time. Things go well for us! So if you have a relationship with Jesus. Don't neglect the covenant that you have. He promises to take care of you in a bad time. In fact in the book of Psalms he promises that in a time of famine to satisfy you! And for those who don't have a relationship... well you should get that relationship today. Otherwise I guess you too are in the sinking ship.