Day 6: God will provide
Matthew 6:31-33
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Today’s promise is that God will provide. This passage is taken from a part of Matthew’s Gospel which is known as the Sermon on The Mount. In the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus gave his radical manifesto for the Kingdom of God to many people who had gathered to listen. One purpose of this was to invite those who had gathered to join Jesus, to leave their old lives, and join Him on this radical discipleship journey.
Making big life changes like Jesus was encouraging, can result in lots of questions and worries. I know this from my own experiences that when we receive the call of God, doubts and anxieties can often follow closely after. Questions such as how will this work, will we still have an income, will my kids be okay etc. The great thing about Jesus is that he is not unaware of our worries and concerns.
After encouraging his followers to live lives of radical generosity and sacrifice earlier in the chapter, Jesus goes on to tell them not to worry about their basic requirements – food, drink and clothes. Now Jesus is not saying these things aren’t important (He does not want malnourished half dressed followers), but he is reminding his followers that our heavenly Father already knows about these needs.
Jesus goes on to encourage us that if we seek first His kingdom and righteousness, in other words put Him before everything else, then we will receive the other things that we need as well. The challenge facing us is one of trust. Do we trust that if we make God our priority, He will provide everything that we need.
This is a promise I have found to be true through years of first hand experience, that if you put God and his kingdom first, that he will provide the things you need. Countless times I have found it to be true, in the most amazing of ways.
Psalm 37:25 says, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.”
David who wrote this Psalm was old and he was looking back over his life when he made this conclusion. I’m hardly what you could call old, but in my experiences to date, I have certainly found this to be the case.
If we grasp this promise today, it will give you the confidence to say yes to whatever God calls you to.
Prayer
God I pray that you give me the confidence to step out of my comfort zone, even when worries come. Help me to trust that you will provide for my needs. Amen
Ps Dan Hoyle
Campus Pastor, Bishop Auckland