And why do you worry …?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

— Matthew 6:28-34

Last week we examined the exhortation that we should not wear ourselves out to get rich. Rather, as leaders of our homes, we should invest ourselves in the things that producing lasting treasure. In response, some might say, “I’m not trying to get rich; I just want to put food on the table, put clothes on our backs and a roof over our heads.”

Stated this way, worry can seem almost noble. “As the head of my home, I have to be concerned about the basics. I am not thinking about getting rich. I am just trying to survive.” But It is a huge temptation for the responsibility of financial provision to crowd out responsibilities that are even more important.

Someone is probably asking—what is more important than providing for my family? Well, Christ says later in Matthew that the most important commandment is to love God and your neighbor. So your work must be done in the context of loving God most. Jesus puts it this way: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” Providing for your family is certainly part of seeking God’s kingdom, but it is not the major part.

We live in an unstable, unpredictable world. Jobs can be lost overnight through corporate mergers. The economy is uncertain. Our ability to work may be terminated around the next corner. Yet Jesus still says, “Do not worry about what you will eat or wear.” He will provide these things for you. He wants, instead, for your main focus to be seeking life that is truly life (I Timothy 6:19).

Here is one definition of worry: Worry is attempting to take responsibility for things that can only come from God. For example, God has commanded us as men to work and in so doing provide for our families (I Timothy 5:8). But in Matthew 6 Jesus is teaching that food and clothing come from him. It is easy to think that I go out and earn a paycheck, and that puts food on the table. God is so intimately involved in our lives that we easily lose sight of just how dependent we are on him. The apostle Paul tells the people in pagan Lystra, “God has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." So even though these people worked their fields and harvested their crops, God actually provided the food on their tables. If this is true for those who don’t know God, how much more is it true for those who do know him?

You are responsible to work, as God has called you to do. But he is responsible to provide your food and clothing. We become worriers when we are dominated by taking that responsibility upon ourselves. Christ makes a direct promise that he will provide for our basic needs (vs. 33 above).

This passage helps you to determine your priorities. Is it wise leadership to pursue things that, while good for the moment, can lose their value in a heartbeat? What is the real value of these good things when you find out that your wife is leaving? That your teenager has a sexually transmitted disease? What is really important? Jesus says his kingdom and his righteousness are most important.

Fathers, when we don’t have time to invest in our children to prepare them for the teenage years, because we think we have to work long hours to provide food for the table, we are taking on a responsibility that belongs to God and, at the same time, neglecting a responsibility that is ours. We become worriers. Your teenager will be thrown into a culture where sexual contact, masturbation, and pornography are the norm. Destructive language and the music of self-gratification will fill his mind. The pressure to enter the flow of the culture is enormous. How much time are you investing to prepare your children for this? Are you depending upon your children being involved in soccer, dance class, music lessons, Little League and extra curricular activities to keep them from the dangers of the world? Are you perhaps thinking that your wife, or perhaps teachers at church and school, will be the ones to get the job done? Fathers, your relationship with your children must be so vital that they will look to you for help when the teenage culture attempts to pull them away from God.

If you are not currently raising children in your home, what are other ways this passage applies? What are some ways you can seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness in your home? In your community? At work? At church?

This week in your meetings talk about the priorities of life. Whose kingdom are you pursuing? How much of your self-worth depends on providing by your own hard work the physical necessities that God has promised to give when we seek his kingdom and righteousness?