Matthew 6:27-30 / Don't Worry About Tomorrow

“Every-BODY’s WORK-ing FOR the WEEK-end!”

 Everyone’s heard the song, right? Whether we roll our eyes at 80’s pop or instinctively bop up and down to the beat, “Working for the Weekend’s” lyrics are engrained in our culture.

I’ve felt the truth of these lyrics more than I care to admit—sometimes I’m working for the weekend. Yes, I’ll have the early morning meeting if I know I can have some “me time” at night. Sure, I’ll work evenings just as long as I know an off day’s coming soon.

But what happens when the break we thought we were guaranteed doesn’t come? When good things start to fill all our margins? When family members unexpectedly get sick? When crises demand our attention?

More often than not, as our margins run thin we feel the suffocating pressure of anxiety and stress; it feels like the walls are closing in. “God I can’t take care of it all.” “Lord, it feels like it’s all falling part.” We feel the short fuse and try to manage the stress. But the end seems nowhere in sight

In Matthew 6, Jesus speaks to the crowds about this very issue—the apparent lack of control we all have in the chaos of our life circumstances. 

27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

When the responsibilities add up, when there’s no end in sight, when there’s too much to do, God tells us not to worry but to trust His character (verse 30). How can we be free from the worry and stress of my daily demands? It’s by knowing there’s a God who delights in providing for us, just as He provides for all His creation. It’s through believing that our God sees and knows intimately the demands of our life and the limits of our ability. But how can we trust God in the midst of our need? We worry He’ll look at our deficits and just demand more.

Enter the truth of the gospel. The truth is, we have a God who delights in providing for us where we cannot provide for ourselves. The truth of the gospel is this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God’s character is to provide for His children, and out of that character He provides us peace.

With this peace, we are now free to give our all to God, to seek first His kingdom, and to trust Him with the rest. We can lift up our hands up in prayer and lay our heads down at night knowing there is a God who holds us and has tomorrow in His hands. Our circumstances may not change, but our God doesn’t either.

It’s His joy to provide in the midst of our need!

Prayerfully,

Pastor Kevin G