“So 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 6:31-34.
In the last few months these verses have provided great comfort to my household and have been demonstrated daily to be true! I have had plenty to worry about, multiple essay deadlines weeks apart, an exam to revise for, car issues, family sickness and bereavement. I have been asking similar questions like “How will I have the strength or knowledge to complete this essay?”, “How will we get to Church for the next meeting?”, “How will I care for others when I barely have enough strength to look after myself or my wife?”. At the root of these questions was my natural inclination to look beyond a given day and quickly become overwhelmed by the size of the task as I tried to scale these metaphorical mountains in my own strength.
Praise God my mind was drawn back to these verses! God in his infinite wisdom instructs us to only focus on today’s troubles for these are often enough on their own. God being so graceful and merciful knows our human minds are limited in their capacity and thus issues this instruction. Immediately deploying this my mountains were reduced in size. However, my questions still lingered, how on earth would I be able to cope and navigate today’s worries and troubles?
This gets to the heart of the issue. I was seeking to navigate these issues in my strength. This is futile because I am incapable of doing this and most importantly because it isn’t what God instructs us to do. The beautiful truth and instruction of these verses is to look towards him for he knows exactly what we need and will provide it. Earlier in the chapter, there is encouragement that God faithfully provides for the birds of the sky, so how much more will he faithfully provide for his children who he loves! My mind was also drawn to the Israelites who had food provided for them daily from heaven when they were in the wilderness and had no natural provisions. How foolish I would be to not depend upon my faithful God who has a history of providing exactly what we need and exactly when we need it!
So, did I sit back and just let God do his work? No! For there is a command in these verses. That command is to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. So, each morning I brought myself before God reading the bible and in prayer. As I did my eyes were lifted and my mind reminded of Gods glory and faithfulness. Suddenly, my mountains became miniscule and very much passable in his presence & strength.
I then sought to follow the instructions of Philippians 4:6-7, to give him our worries and anxieties in prayer, choosing to let him have them for God alone is in control. As I did this sometimes multiple times during a day I received the gift of peace and genuinely felt my heart & mind being guarded by him. This took discipline and routine but has proved to be so worthwhile. Some of my mountains have been crossed whilst others remain. I also now have the capacity to look a little further ahead and ask God to provide me with wisdom for the future. However, I am continuing to approach this in the wisdom I need to depend and trust upon him daily for my needs.
A humbling and timely reminder that my God is faithful and there is true wisdom in his written Word.
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