Don't Worry [Luke 12:29-31]

Luk 12:29 Don't keep striving for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don't be anxious.
Luk 12:30 For the Gentile world eagerly seeks all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
Luk 12:31 "But seek His kingdom, and these things will be provided for you.

Recently my family has been struggling with the whole concept of “worry”. My dad has been on the chopping block at work for sometime now. They tell him that he needs to “shape up” and “do better”. There is one problem with that: it is not justified. He is currently running the best numbers in his district in customer satisfaction and in sales. How can you shape up out of that? He is doing all that he can to do his best. When this situation escalates and falls, the thought always creeps into your mind “What if we don’t have food? What about clothes?” I know that my family knows that we will not run out of food, we will have a place to stay and everything will be ok. Though, the thought is still there. What are we to do when this “worry” of what comes next plagues our mind? Let’s look at what Jesus has to say:

Jesus initially poses us with the illustration of the ravens. They do not go out and plant seed, in order to come back later and harvest that seed for food. Nor do they store up food to come back to it later for a meal. They just do not operate like that. What do they do? When meal time comes, they find food and eat it. God takes care of them. They do not worry about their next meal. What do you think?

Jesus also poses the illustration of the grass and the flowers. The flowers have no worry of what they will be clothed with. All they do is what they were designed to do and that is grow. Look at a field: the flowers are clothed with umatched beauty, clothed in beauty greater than that of Solomon. What do you think?

Jesus asks us a question about worry, “Can any of you add a cubit to his height by worrying?” What will worrying about anything accomplish? It is not going to make you taller, nor will it add years to your life. So, why do it? What do you think?

God knows all that we need to survive in this life and He promises us that He will provide for all of our needs. What are we to do? Let’s take a look at verse 31, “But seek His kingdom, and these things will be provided for you.” We need to serve God and not worry about ourselves. Whether that be witnessing to the neighbor, helping with VBS, or teaching a Sunday school class. God has kingdom work for each one of us to do. That should be our focus. What is going to matter more in the scheme of eternity: what you did to worry about you? Or what you did for God? What do you think?

Aaron Taylor