When we depend on ourselves and when we seek to find security and sustainability in ourselves, we do it because we trust in ourselves. And as we trust in ourselves we simultaneously mistrust the all-powerful, eternal nature of our Father in Heaven.
In Matthew 6:28 – 30 Jesus says…
28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Why do you worry?
Its not enough to ask ourselves what we worry about we also have to ask ourselves why we worry. In the broader portion of this text Jesus is instructing us not to worry. (25 – 34) Not to be anxious. Not to be consumed with wondering what’s going to happen in the next moment. We hear Jesus saying not to worry about all of the physical things that money can buy. But the problem is that we still worry. We get anxious. But why do we worry?
I think we worry about security and stability. In our minds we think we will find more security and stability in expanding our bank accounts, working more hours, stockpiling more food and buying more clothing. There’s nothing inherently wrong with saving money or storing up food or putting clothes in our closets. Proverbs even instructs us to save like an ant. But Jesus isn’t addressing the issues of storing up food or putting money into savings or tithing like these things are the problem.
In these verses, Jesus is addressing the heart problem of worrying about what money can buy. He’s addressing the heart issue of reducing life to the accumulation of wealth and material possessions. He’s addressing the heart issue of us living in a state of perpetual worry over whether or not our lives will count for anything valuable. We have an issue with assessing the value of our lives by the yardstick of our possessions. This is why Jesus asks in verse 28 “why are you anxious about clothing?” In other words why do you worry about life as though it revolves around the things you can wear? This question is meant to get at the issue under the issue or the core of why we worry. Why do you worry about physical needs?
As you think about why you worry over the physical existence of your life Jesus says “consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Flowers do nothing and yet they are beautifully clothed. But Solomon, one of the wealthiest men who ever lived, at his best, after working his hardest, couldn’t clothe himself as beautifully as God clothes the flowers in the fields. Have you seen how beautiful the flowers are?
Question: “Why do we think that the things we work to create are more beautiful than what God works to sustain?” Our worrying is directly linked to our ability to work. Everything in our physical existence seems connected to our ability to work and to produce. But flowers don’t worry about working more hours to earn anything. They just rest and depend on God’s ability to sustain them. We work to earn and we work to produce. Therefore it’s too easy for us to believe that our provision is dependent on our ability to work more, earn more and produce more. And when we can’t work enough to earn enough or produce enough what do we do? We worry! We worry because we believe a false gospel, which says, we can find security in on ourselves, our efforts and our productivity.
If Solomon were standing here right now he would preach the book of Ecclesiastes to us. He would say, “I’ve had every beautiful thing you could ever have. More beautiful wives than anyone. More beautiful cities than anyone. More beautiful clothes than anyone. More beautiful gold in my bank account than anyone. But the pursuit of those beautiful things was like chasing the wind. It was a useless or profitless endeavor. It paled in comparison with the beauty of worshipping the God who sustains our lives.” We worry because we value the beauty that we can work to produce more than the beauty that God produces and sustains.
Even the wealthiest person among us instinctively knows that regardless of how much we work there is no security or sustainability in money, clothing, stockpiles of food or any other physical possession or piece of material wealth that we can accumulate. Life is short. Our ability to work and earn and produce our physical needs is limited at best not just to our ability but also to our time here on Earth. Our time here on Earth is like a whisper in the wind but when compared to the life of a flower it’s like an eternity. Have you thought about eternity lately?
Jesus says “if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” In other words it’s not just that we worry because we believe we can work, earn and produce and when we fail to hit that mark we fall into more worry. We struggle to believe that God is enough. We struggle to remember that even the tiniest shred of our faith placed in the all-powerful nature of God is enough to move mountains. And it’s not because our faith is enough. It’s because God is enough.
When we depend on ourselves and when we seek to find security and sustainability in ourselves, we do it because we trust in ourselves. And as we trust in ourselves we simultaneously mistrust the all-powerful, eternal nature of our Father in Heaven. What you worry about reveals why you worry, which gives you the opportunity to trust in Christ.