Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Francis Chan
God’s Provisions
Jesus knows our tendency to worry. So He tells us, “Do not be anxious 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” (Matthew 6:25). And since God provides even for the sparrows, He asks, “Are you not of more value than they” (Matthew 6:26b)? “Yes” is the obvious answer. Worried about life’s provisions? Jesus tells us that we should “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). I believe Him.
God’s Sufficiency
When I worry all the time, or at least some of the time, I am really telling God, “I don’t trust You.” The Apostle Paul tells us that our sufficiency doesn’t rest in things but in God, and our weakness fits perfectly with the strength of Christ (Philippians 4:13). God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). So Paul said “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God’s strength cannot be displayed if we think we are strong but only in our weakness. In this way, God receives all the glory; and He is sufficient for us to endure all things.
God’s Resources
Do we really own anything? What do we have that we did not receive (1 Corinthians 4:7)? The truth is, “every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10), which means everything on Earth. In fact, even we were bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). When the nation of Israel grumbled (again!) in the wilderness for more than manna, God told Moses that they would receive meat (Numbers 11:18-20). But Moses looked around and said, “Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat’” (Numbers 11:13). So “the Lord said to Moses, ‘Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not’” (Numbers 11:23). True?
God’s Trust
When things look bad, don’t look at your checkbook balance, don’t look at your bills, don’t look at your problems in and with the home. Rather, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). The psalmist knew better than to only trust what he saw with his eyes and wrote, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him” (Psalm 28:7).
Conclusion
Why worry when nothing can possibly pass through His nailed, pierced hands than what He sovereignly allows. It is just as Francis Chan said: “Worry implies that we don’t quite trust God is big enough.” Isn’t our God worthy of our full trust?
