March Like Jesus
… In Handling Our Money – Part III
Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:19-34
Key Verse: Matthew 6:30
“And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?”
Jesus’s question in today’s Key Verse is a tough one to answer for most of us: Why do we have so little faith?
Many of us have known Jesus for many years, have attended church for many years, and have read our Bible for many years. And yet we would all have to admit to worrying at times.
A definition of “worry” is to “give way to anxiety or unease, allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles” (Oxford Languages). Notice two phrases in this definition: “to give way” and “allow one’s mind”. These two phrases show that worry is a person’s choice. No one forces us to give way to worry or to allow our difficulties and troubles to stay in our minds.
Worry is a state of mind that a person allows to exist when facing problems or fears of possible problems. The good news is that we really do have control over our minds and can decide what our minds dwell upon! Worry is a result of our lack of faith in a God who can step into all our problems and make them all work out for our good.
Jesus was constantly trying to convince people of the goodness and faithfulness of God in the passage we have been studying. Jesus reminds His listeners that their Father in Heaven takes care of the birds in the air and the wildflowers on the ground. If our Father can feed the birds, though they do no planting of seeds, He can take care of our needs. If our Father makes these beautiful wildflowers, though they do not last but a few days, how much more will He certainly take care of us! So, why would we decide to give way to anxiety or allow our minds to dwell on our fears?
Worry is one of the most effective and powerful tools of the evil one in taking the joy of the Lord out of our lives. To overcome worry, we need a daily dose of God’s Word and a daily surrender of our fears to Him. We need the constant reminder that there is no reason to fear because God is with us and grants us the strength and wisdom we need no matter what happens.
Yes, bad things happen to God’s people, but we must remind ourselves that God has a plan and the power to make all things work for our good. When we catch ourselves starting to give in and allow troubles to overwhelm us, God’s Word tells us to:
Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)
For me, I take one of God’s promises that relates to my troubles and repeat it over and over, resisting the evil one until he flees from me.
Father may Your Holy Spirit give me reminders to never give in to or allow fears to become worries that rob me of Your joy. In Jesus’s Name I pray, amen.