Is it ok to worry?

Don’t worry, be happy!  Bobby McFerrin made the song famous and even won a Grammy in 1989 for song of the year.  It has an upbeat tune that can be hard to get out of your head.  It also became an illustration popular in churches tied to faith and particularly this passage.  Lots and lots of preachers have said that we should not worry, because God is in charge.  If God can take care of the lowly birds and the mindless flowers, of course He can take care of us.  In our heads we know this.  We know that God provides for the world around us.  He created it, He maintains it, and He takes care of all of it, and so of course He can take care of us.  Even though we have heard this, read this, and sung songs about it, we still worry.  It just doesn’t seem realistic to not worry.  Things still happen to us, we still suffer loss, we still worry about having enough money to provide for our families, we still worry about what the future will hold, so what do we do with a passage like Matthew 6:24-34?

God offers us a choice of where to put our foundation with options including money, worry, or God.  If we choose worry or money as our priority, we can expect great highs and devastating lows.  If we choose God, in good times and bad, we have no reason to worry. God will provide for our needs.  God created the world, sustains it, and can surely take care of everything we need in our lives.  “Jesus is not saying that we don’t need to study for an exam, prepare a sermon, or budget for groceries to provide for our families.  We are not to be reckless when it comes to seeking provision for the normal things of life.  We are to make preparation, but not with anxious hearts.”  (Matthew by R.C.Sproul)

This passage is a reminder about God’s providence for us.  God’s providence doesn’t just mean that God knows what will happen in the future for us and for the world.  The providence of God includes God’s knowledge of the future along with His provision for the future.  His perfect plan that can’t fail, that includes every one of us, and everything about us, even the number of hairs on our head.  That is who we are building the foundation of our lives on, who we are seeking first.  We are called to seek Him first knowing that He is in charge of everything, knows every part of us, and truly wants what is best for us.

When we seek Him first, and take seriously having God as the foundation of our lives, when we truly trust God with our lives we are freed to live the life that God calls us to.  We don’t need to live with unnecessary anxiety about our circumstances or our future.  We are free to live lives devoted to the most meaningful things imaginable rather than spending time worrying or anxious.  We are freed from slavery to money, to recognizing the things we have a blessings from God and being able to use them to be a blessing to others.  We are free to be the hands and feet of Christ and to spread the Kingdom of God throughout the world.

There will still be things we don’t understand, there will still be times that are hard and challenging and times of walking in the wilderness.  But if we seek God first, and place God as the foundation of our lives, we can trust in God’s promises that He has a good plan for us.  When we seek Him first, above everything else this world tempts us with, when He is our foundation, we don’t need to spend our lives worrying because God’s got our back.  We are not walking through the world alone with a few dollars and anxiety wrinkles to throw at the things that happen to us, but we have the God of the universe, the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer taking care of us.  When we seek Him first, we lives our lives knowing that it is all in God’s hands, and we are assured that we can handle whatever happens because we know that God is with us, God is in control, and God is faithful.  Let us truly seek Him first.