How often do you sit and think about all that God has provided for you? If you are a Christian, you should understand that everything we have that is good is from God. He holds our lives in His hands and our earthly lives could stop at any moment. Our abilities come also as a gift from Him. None of us chose our parents, and we didn’t choose the capacity of our intelligence. When I look at my own life, I am overcome with gratitude for all He has done for me. Each phase of my life has been carefully orchestrated by the one who knows what is best for me. I am so thankful for His provision for my life.
When Jesus was speaking in the sermon on the mount in Matthew 6:25-34, he zeros in on how we should trust Him for our provisions. He begins by teaching us not to be anxious about what we will eat, and where and how we will obtain our necessities. This does not mean that we are to sit back and be lazy expecting God to lay our food and clothing in our laps. There are 15 verses in the Bible that reprimand slothfulness, which in our vernacular means lazy. In II Thessalonians 3:10, Paul instructs the church and says, “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” It is right and good for us to work to provide for ourselves. However, in Matthew Jesus is teaching them not to be consumed and worried about what they have or don’t have. In these verses, He gives a beautiful word picture of how in-depth God cares for those who are His.
In verse 26 he speaks about the birds. From creation, God has taken care of the birds of the air. The smallest bird in the world is the bee hummingbird. It is found only in Cuba, a poor country where people cannot afford to put up multiple hummingbird feeders, yet they not only survive they thrive. How, because God takes care of them. Each creature God created is designed to survive without our help. Yet, we sometimes think they cannot exist without us. I am not saying don’t feed the birds, but recognize you are feeding them for your own pleasure not because God cannot take care of them.
In verse 26, Jesus gives the analogy of the lilies of the field. He proclaims their beauty and how they grow not because they work, but because God is taking care of them. They are not just surviving, they are beautiful. They are more beautiful than Solomon with all of his gold and silk, he was not a match for the beauty created by God.
Each example is to draw us to the conclusion that it is God who gives and provides for us, and He can and will do it abundantly for those who are surrendered to Him. He is far more capable of taking what He has placed in our hands and using it for our benefit. In verse 26 we are not to be worried we will have food, in verse 28 clothing, and in verse 27 we are reminded that we cannot add one inch of height to our physical bodies.
Mat 6:25-29 “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
Jesus gives all of these illustrations to give evidence that God is able and wants to provide for His children. He knows our needs and in verse 32 He reminds us that those who are without God, the Gentiles, seek after all these things. For us, we can see clearly that people are consumed with getting ahead in this world. They seek more and more things. Even some Christians have this attitude. They miss church services to work an extra shift, they add hours to their day doing what will increase their goods, at the cost of their Bible study and prayer time. They seek to build relationships with those who can help them advance and neglect to build their relationship with God.
We struggle because we have it all wrong. God’s plan is to take care of all of our needs if we will do it His way. Yes, we need to work as I mentioned before that is God’s mandate, but it should never prohibit our work for the kingdom or our time with Him. Jesus makes this clear in verse 33. The key to a fulfilled, successful life is to seek Him first in everything! We are to seek to be righteous and to please Him in our thoughts and actions. We should desire His favor in our lives. If this is our desire, He will provide all that we need. We do not need to be anxious about getting ahead in this world. Put everything in perspective and allow God to take care of you as He sees fit. You will never be disappointed when pleasing Him is the goal of your life. This reminds me of Matthew 7:11 where Jesus compares the desire of an earthly father to the desire of our Heavenly Father. “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”
Matthew 6:30 “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
I am so thankful for the provisions He has brought to my life. Only my God can provide both physically and spiritually the things that I need and most of my wants. No words can describe the gratitude that I feel and I look forward to the day I can see Him face to face and thank Him. Think about it.
