How Not to Worry, Part 2

If you have your Bible, turn with me to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. And we are looking at a very important passage of Scripture when it comes to understanding how not to worry. It's very practical because for the most part we live a life of anxiousness. We live a life of panic. We live a life filled with all kinds of stress and fear. And the Lord God says specifically three times, do not be anxious.

Do not keep worrying and do not be afraid. In other words, it's a command. Don't do that. Stop doing that. And yet we find ourselves in all kinds of panic stricken states. If the virtuous woman is to smile at the future, if she's able to look into the future and not worry about what's going to happen because that's what God designed her to do, we can learn from her in Proverbs chapter 31 about what it means to trust God concerning the future. Now if you're a mother today and it's Mother's Day and you're worried about the future, you're worried about your kids and how they're going to turn out, listen, the end has not been written on your children yet, right?

There's still a future for your children. As long as they're alive, there is a future. And you smile at the future because you know there's a God who holds them in the future. So you need not be discouraged. You might be wondering about what's going to happen in the future with your family and you want to be able to smile at the future, but you don't know about whether or not your husband's going to be able to hold down a job or maintain a job or what's going to happen to your finance in the future, but can you still smile at the future because you know that God's in charge of the future.

We need not to be anxious. We need to be unlike the world. The world is filled with worry and fear and anxious thoughts and and panic attacks, but we need not be like the world. We need to be different than the world because we believe in the living God of the universe. So I asked myself this question, why is it we worry? Why is it we are so afraid of the future? Why is it we live in a stress-oriented life? What makes us so anxious? Well, a couple of things. One is it must be because we are ignorant of who God is.

Because if we know about God and understand God, then certainly we would know that God's in charge of everything, right? But if we had no idea about God's omnipotence, He's all-powerful. His omniscience, He knows everything. His providence, He's in charge of everything. His wonderful provision of grace, if we have a misunderstanding of God, if we are ignorant about who God is, then we can't trust Him, can we? If we know who He is, then we can better trust Him. So it's imperative that you come to grips with the character and nature of Almighty God.

That's why we teach you the Bible. That's why we take you verse by verse, sometimes word by word through each of those verses, about the character and nature of God, because we want you to come to grips with who God is. We wrote a booklet a number of years ago called How to Choose a Church. This is a great little booklet, not because I wrote it, but because it's a good booklet. And the very first aspect of choosing a church is you choose a church based on a place where the Word of God is paramount.

Why is that so important? Because you need to understand and know God. That's why we have it as our passion as a church to pursue Christ. That's our passion, to pursue Him, to understand Him, to come to grips with Him, even though He's infinite, even though He's incomprehensible, even though His ways are unfathomable. We want to come to know our God, because with a proper understanding of who God is, we can trust Him for the future to do what only He can do, because He is all-powerful. He controls all things.

So we fear, we worry, we are anxious, because we don't know God. But if you know God, at least if you say you know Him, and you know about His sovereignty, and you know about His, His omnipotence, and omnipresence, and omniscience, and His eternality, and His triunity, and all those great attributes of, of God that are portrayed in Scripture, if you know Him and you still worry, it's simply because, it's because you don't believe what He says. You disbelieve Him. You're, you're what we call the people of the LFS.

You know what the LFS is? I'm gonna tell you in a minute. Just mark it down, the LFS. You're part of the LFS, and you want to be part of that. So many times we, we say we know God, but yet we still, we still have all these anxious thoughts. So in the trying to show you about what God does, and who He is. Because that's what the Lord is trying to portray to these people, who have decided, if they choose to, to lay up treasures in heaven and not on earth. They are the ones who want to be rich toward God, and not rich toward the things of this world.

They're willing to sell everything for the sake of the kingdom. They're willing to give their lives away for the sake of Christ. They'll do whatever Christ asks them to do, because that's what salvation is. Salvation is doing whatever God says to do.

And walking in obedience to Him, because Christianity is about following Christ, right? That's why Christ kept saying over and over again, follow me, follow me, follow me. Because that's what Christianity is. Christianity is nothing but following Christ. It's not following anybody else, it's following Christ. And so therefore you say, Lord I'm gonna follow you, I'm gonna give my life to you, I'm yours. But we answered this question last week, what about me? What's that question? Without ever being asked that question, because He knows what's in your hearts and minds.

He knows what you're thinking, just like He knows what you're thinking today. He knows that. We told you last week that Peter asked that question. And Christ said, it's impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. You must give it all away for me. And Peter says, well we've given it all away for you Lord, but, but what's in it for us? That was in Matthew chapter 16, or Matthew chapter 19. He asked that question. So the great Apostle asked that question. He knows, as Christ is speaking, that all the people in the crowd had that in their minds.

And so that's why he says in verse number 22, for this reason. What reason? Because you want to be rich toward God. Let me help you understand what it is you can do, so you never have to worry again.

Wouldn't it be good to, to live a life stress-free? Not being anxious about what you eat, or what you drink, or what you're going to wear. Not anxious about tomorrow. Christ would say earlier in Matthew's gospel, each day has enough trouble of his own, doesn't it? Why worry about tomorrow when each day has enough trouble of its own? And that's, that's a good point. And so we're looking at these principles, and principle number one was this, that, that you need to recognize God's purpose.

You need to recognize God's purpose. Christ says in verse number 22, do not be anxious for your life as to what you shall eat, nor for your body as to what you shall put on.

Verse 23, for life is more than food and body than clothing. In other words, recognize God's purpose for your life. Your life is more than food and fashion. Your life is about the glory and honor of God. And you need to be consumed with his glory, and consumed with his honor. And that's why we're spending the time we're doing on Wednesday nights, helping you understand that, because we want you to give glory and honor to God. That's why you exist. That's what your purpose is. That's what your mission in life is.

And if you're going to live, listen, stress-free, this side of eternity, you must be fulfilling your purpose in life. If you're not fulfilling your purpose in life, you will be anxious, you will be filled with stress, you will be panic-stricken, because you are consumed with your glory, and not God's glory. It's as simple as that. So you need to recognize God's purpose. Your life is more than food and fashion. You're created for another purpose. It's to give glory and honor to God. That's point number one.

We talked about that last week. Number two, need to realize God's provision. Recognize God's purpose. Number two, realize God's provision.

He says, verse 24, consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, and they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds. Realize God's provision. The birds have no storerooms to gather together their food. They have to depend upon what God gives them. And when God gives them their food, they're satisfied, because God has given them what they need. And if you're more valuable than the birds, and you are, you're much more valuable than the birds of the air.

How much more will God provide for you? So you need to realize God's purpose for your life. It's more than food and fashion. It's about giving glory to Him. And you need to be able to, number two, realize God's provision for your life.

He's gonna take care of every knee that you have. If He feeds the birds of the air, guess what? He's going to feed you as well. Number three, that's where we left off last week.

You need to remember God's providence. You need to remember God's providence. It says in verse number 25, and which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his lifespan? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why are you anxious about other matters? In other words, Christ says, you know, you can't add to your life.

Now a cubit is about from the tip of your elbow to the tip of your middle finger, which is about 18 inches. He's not talking about adding height to your life, not adding, if you're 5 foot 8, making you 7 foot 4. I mean, it's not about that. The cubit is used metaphorically to talk about your lifespan. You can't add any more days to your life. You can't. Your death is a divine appointment. I've never known anybody who died accidentally. I've never met anybody who died accidentally. I've only met people who died by divine appointment, because Psalm 139 tells us that all of our days were numbered before there was even yet one of them.

In other words, God's got it all mapped out, right? So nobody dies too early. Nobody dies too late. Everybody dies on time. Isn't that good to know? Isn't it good to know that you're not going to die too early? Isn't it good to know that you're not going to die too late? Now I know some of you are thinking, boy, I wish I could go on to be with the Lord now because I've been around a long time. But you always die on time. And the remarkable thing is that there's nothing you can do. In this age of food supplements and dietary supplements and exercise, we think that we can live longer if we do certain things.

You can't. You can't. Don't buy into that infomercial that says, boy, if you do this, you're going to live a longer, fuller life. No, you're not. You live as long as God has designed you to live. Now, you can, you can cut your life short by sin. 1 John 5 talks about a sin unto death, right? 1 Corinthians 11 talks about people who would eat and drink of the Lord's table in an unworthy manner. And some of them died. So you can cut your life short, but in cutting your life short, it's still by divine appointment, is it not?

God is still in control of all those things. So we rest in the sovereignty of God. But this is something about the providence of God. God's in charge. Now I'm all for exercise. I'm all for diet. I'm all for those things. I mean, because you want to live well. You want to feel good as you go through life. I'm all for that. I'm not against that. And I think that, you know, a good dose of, you know, quarter pounders with cheese and French fries and a Dr. Pepper is really good to have every day. I think you ought to have that every day.

That's good food. But I think that there's nothing wrong with those things. But don't think that if you do certain things and eat certain foods, you're going to live longer. You're not. You're not. I remember when my first wife, Sandy, contacted cancer, they put her on a specific diet called a macrobiotic diet.

It was a diet designed for those who are filled with cancer, thinking that it would prolong their lives. And we were sitting down with this person who was involved in this macrobiotic diet with lots of fish and rice. And I can't remember all that was there, but he was saying, you know, if you eat this stuff and, and, you know, this will, will slow down the cancer and you'll live longer. I looked at him and said, are you kidding me? Do you actually think that if we eat this food, my wife's going to live longer than God has assigned her to live?

He said, well, well, yeah. I said, are you kidding me? Her future is in God's hands and she will live as long as he has prescribed her to live, whether she eats this way or she doesn't eat this way. And quite interestingly, when the surgeon said that she had a less than 5% chance to live five years after her, her surgery, and I asked him, I said, well, what does that mean? He goes, she'll probably live less than a year. I said, well, what does that mean? She goes, she might live 15 months from now.

She might not. She lived exactly 15 months from the day, even though she changed her diet and tried to eat properly, she still died. Not because the doctor said she died in 15 months, but because she died on time. Everybody dies on time. So Christ is saying, look, don't think that you can add to your life. Don't, don't think you're going to live longer because you do certain things. You're not. So don't worry about how long you're going to live. Don't worry about that. Don't worry about how well you're going to live because of my provision and your purpose that I have for you, my purpose that I have for you.

And don't worry about how long you're going to live because that's all under divine providence. God's in charge. That's just such a freeing thing. I have no idea when I'm going to die. I could die today. I feel like I'm going to live forever, but I could die today. I'm not worried about when I'm going to die because it's all in God's timetable. I'm not worried about that. God's got it all in charge. He's got it all under control. I don't worry about tomorrow or next year or 10 years from now.

Each day has enough trouble of its own. I've got to deal with getting through this sermon before I do anything about tomorrow, right? And so it's all under divine providence. And so in order to overcome worry, I must recognize God's purpose for my life. I must realize God's provision for my life. He'll provide. And thirdly, I must remember God's providence concerning my life.

He's in charge. And that is a good thing. Number four, I must reflect on God's preference in life. I must reflect on God's preference in life. And now He moves from food, from food to lifespan to clothing. Listen to what He says. Consider the lilies, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. But I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. But if God so raised the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you, O men of little faith?

Now that's the issue. That's the LFS in the church, the little faith syndrome. See? He says, look, the lilies, maybe as Jesus was speaking, He would point to the, to the lilies of the field. Now these lilies, it's called the grass of the field. These are the flower grasses, the grasses filled with flowers in the fields. And they're here today. They're gone tomorrow. He says, you know, look how beautiful they are. And if, you know, it's springtime and we can look at the flowers and we can get up close to a flower and see the intricate details, the beauty of God's creation.

It's a magnificent thing. Christ says, they're here today. They're gone tomorrow. Why? Because they're thrown into a furnace, He says. Why would they be thrown into a furnace? Because they would take the grasses of the fields, these flower grasses, and they would throw them in these clay furnaces to keep the furnace going to keep it hot. They're here today. They're gone tomorrow. And if the Lord God would, would show the beauty of His creation, the creativity of His creative powers in those little flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, how much more will He clothe you, His children?

You are the, the cream of His creation. You are the bride prepared for His Son. How much more will He take care of your outerwear? Even Solomon, in all of His glory, you can read about it in 1 Kings and in, I think it's 1 Kings chapter 10 and 2 Chronicles chapter 9, the beauty of Solomon's attire. It could not be compared to what the Lord God does with the flowers of the fields that are here today and gone tomorrow. The point is this, here is the preference of God. His preference is to take care of your needs.

You are more valuable than those things. You are the bride of Christ. You are His children. You are the cream of His creation. And therefore, His preference is to take care of you and to watch over you. And then He says, O men of little faith. That's a phrase that Christ would use quite often, mostly with His own disciples. It's used over in, in the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 8 verse 23, and when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him and behold, there arose a great storm in the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves, but He Himself was asleep.

And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, Save us Lord, we are perishing. He said to them, Why are you timid, you men of little faith? Why do they have little faith? Because they didn't believe in what God said. Why are you anxious about what you shall eat or what you shall wear or what you shall eat? Because you don't believe in what God has said. Why are you anxious about the length of your life? Here were the disciples on a boat in Matthew chapter 8, and they were afraid, Lord, save us, don't you care that we are perishing?

He says, Why are you so, so timid, you men of little faith? You don't believe what I said. Do you actually think you're going to live any longer or any shorter than what I've designed for you, you men of little faith? It's a phrase used in connection throughout the Gospels with those who worry about food, clothing and life span. If you worry about what you're going to eat, what you're going to wear, how long you're going to live, you are of the LFS group, the little faith syndrome, because you don't believe what God said.

It says earlier, or later in Matthew 14, Christ says these words, and they began to discuss among themselves, saying it's because we took no bread.

And Jesus, aware of this, said, You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? They were concerned about what they were going to eat. He says about the bread, the leaven of the Pharisees, they had got it all mixed up because they were so concerned about their stomachs and about what they were going to eat. He says again, Oh, you men of little faith, I'm going to take care of those, those temporal needs. I'm going to take care of those physical needs. Stop worrying about the physical things and be focused on what I'm saying.

We come to church and we worry about those physical, temporal, material things. They consume us. And God is saying, listen to what I'm saying. I'll take care of your physical needs. I'll take care of what you need to eat and drink and wear. I'll take care of how long you're going to live. Stop worrying about that. Be focused on me. Listen to what I'm going to say. And Christ says, Oh, you men of little faith.

He says it again to his disciples. And then again over in Matthew chapter 16, Matthew chapter 16, verse number 8, Christ says, I'm sorry, not Matthew 16, Matthew chapter 14, verse number 31.

The whole incident where Christ was walking on the water, came to the disciples in the midst of a storm. And Peter said that he wanted to walk on water too. And Christ had come and Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became afraid and beginning to sink. He cried out saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and took hold of him and said to him, Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt? In the midst of the presence of almighty God.

And Peter saw him walking in the water, said, Lord, bid me to come to you. And Christ says, come. So he went. He walked on the water. And one of the other disciples said, look out, Peter, look out for that wave. And Peter took his eyes off. Christ looked at the wave and began to sink and said, Lord, save me. Christ says, Oh, Peter, you have little faith.

You really think you're going to die today, Peter? Don't you trust me for your lifespan? You see, we live lives as if God's not in charge of them. Don't we? We live our lives as if we can actually control the events and the circumstances surrounding our family, our children, our finances. And we think that we can control it. And then when we can't, we just go haywire. We go bonkers. We go ballistic because we can't control it. And God sometimes allows all that to happen just to show you that you're not in charge of anything.

He's in charge of everything. He says, I prefer you over the grass of the field, the lilies that are arrayed with all of that beauty that I've created. You're more important to me than they are. So you must reflect on God's preference. Verse 29, and do not seek what you shall eat and what you shall drink and do not keep worrying. In other words, don't live your life focused on the material and the temporal, living absent-minded about God. Don't do that. Instead, he says this, for all these things, the nations of the world eagerly seek.

It's in the word zeta'o, which means they eagerly desire. There's a, there's a deep passion in the world. The world's about food, fashion, fun, finances. That's what they're about. That's all they're about. That's all they have. All they have is what they can see and what's in front of them. All these things, the nations of the world, they eagerly seek. Don't fall into the category of being like the nations of the world. Don't, don't be like the people of the world. This is what they do. My children are not like that.

Don't be like them. That's what they are concerned about. Then he says this, but your father knows that you need these things. But what a great phrase. Your father knows what you need. And this is point number five, and that's this, re-examine God's paternity. Re-examine God's paternity, the fatherhood of God. Your father knows that you need these things. In fact, he says in Matthew's gospel, Matthew chapter six, when he talks about prayer, he says that your father knows what you need before you even ask him.

Wow. That's pretty good. I don't know that about my kids, that they have to ask me for me to know what they want. Now, sometimes I can guess and sometimes I know, but, but for the most part, I have no idea. Once they ask, I know. The Lord knows before you even ask. Isn't that amazing? And he said, remember back in Luke 11, Luke 11, verse eight, or sorry, verse nine. And I say to you, ask, and it should be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it should be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds.

And to him who knocks, it shall be opened. Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish. He will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? In other words, listen, God is so generous. God is so good. He gives you more than you can ever imagine. You ask for comfort, he's going to give you the comforter.

You ask for guidance, and he will give you the one who guides you. See that? What you're asking for, you're asking for, but God gives you more than that. He gives you the person, the Spirit of God, who does all things for you well. Speaks to the generosity of God, doesn't it? That's who he is. If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, what do you think God's going to do for you? That's why he says you keep asking, you keep seeking, you keep knocking. And on Wednesday night we told you, listen, whatever you ask, in God's name he gives it to you.

Whatever you ask. Whatever you ask. That's a promise God gives. You ask in my name, by my Spirit, you get it. Iron clad, 100 percent, guaranteed assurance, whatever you ask in God's name you get. You say, well I've been asking stuff in God's name and never received it. Well then we told you what on Wednesday night. There are two things that are happening. One, you ask to consume it upon your own lust, James chapter 4. Or, you ask it for your own glory and not God's glory, John 14, 13. And God only answers prayer based on the glory that he will receive.

So if it's about your glory, guess what? The answer is always no. If you ask because you consume it upon your own lust, the answer is no. But if you ask in the power of the Spirit, praying in the Spirit, by the will of God, in the name of God, the answer is always what? Yes. Always is. Because it's for the Father to be glorified. And the Lord God says, listen, my Father knows what you need.

He knows. If you're here today, God knows exactly what you need. There are no surprises for God. He's not sitting out there thinking, boy, I wonder what they're going to pray for today. Boy, I can't wait to hear what they're going to say because I might have, I might have that up in my storeroom as a place to give them. Boy, I hope they ask for it because I got it. I can't wait to give it to them. He knows what you're going to ask before you even ask Him. He knows. Can you imagine that? It speaks to His omniscience.

That's why we, we, we reflect on God's paternity. He's my Father. And in Matthew 6, when it, when it says that God knows, that the Father knows what you're going to ask before you even ask Him, He goes on to say this in verse number 9 of Matthew 6, so when you pray, pray this way, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Remember that? Talked about in Luke 11, that great disciple's prayer. We go and we pray, Our Father. Why don't we go to Him as Father? Because He already knows what we need.

He knows. He knows every anxious thought. He knows every, every pertinent need that you have. He knows it all and He's aware of it. He's powerful enough to deal with it in His own way, in His own time. You need not worry. You say okay, well, I've, I've tried to, to reflect on, on God's paternity in, in my life. I, I've tried that. I, I've tried to remember His providence and realize His provision and recognize His purpose, but, but I still worry. Point number 6. Point number 6. You need not worry.

You need not worry. You need to rekindle your pursuits. I know the outline is different. I changed it. Rekindle your pursuits. Listen to what the Bible says.

Because your Father knows that you need these things, verse 31, but seek for His kingdom and these things shall be added to you. What things? Food, clothing, they'll all be taken care of. You need to rekindle your passion, your pursuits, your priorities. You need to seek first His kingdom, Matthew 6 says, and His righteousness.

Remember that? Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.

Listen, if you're lacking food, if you're lacking clothes, if you're lacking what you need to have to make it through life, go back and ask yourself, am I seeking God's kingdom above all else? Am I seeking His righteousness above all else? Because that's what I should be pursuing. My life is about His kingdom. I, I'm a believer who lives in the realm of a kingdom who's ruled by a king, who promises to take care of all the subjects. And if I'm not being taken care of, is it because I am seeking my own desires, my own will, my own passions, my own direction?

Or am I consumed with the kingdom of God and His righteousness? That's what should be our pursuit. Charles Spurgeon said it this way, you mind his business and he'll mind yours. Isn't that good? I mean, that sums up the whole chapter. You mind his business and he'll mind yours. You be preoccupied with God's business. Be preoccupied with God's kingdom, His purposes, His righteousness, and everything else that he has spoken about will be added unto you. God will take care of you. He promises that. That's why over in the book of Colossians, the fourth chapter, the first verse, it says, if then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Keep setting your affections on things above. Listen, the reason we worry is because we're like Peter on the water. Someone cries out, look out for the wave. And our eyes go off of Christ, onto the wave, and all of a sudden we begin to fear. Fear what? Death? We fear. If Peter would have kept his eyes on Christ, he would have had no fear, and Christ would have not said to him, oh, you of little faith.

Keep your eyes on Christ. Keep seeking first His kingdom, His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

We remember Matthew 5, verse number 7, hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Really? Yeah. They experience the satisfaction that God Himself can give because they are preoccupied with God, His glory, His righteousness. Listen, if you are focused on God, His kingdom, His righteousness, you have no time to think about how long you're going to live, the effects of your cancer, whether or not you'll be paid next week, what's going to happen with your children in the future?

Because you're not thinking about those things. You're thinking about Christ and His kingdom. You say, well, wouldn't that be irresponsible if I wasn't planning for the future? I would just do what God says.

You can plan for the future but not be in that future. Or your family might not be in that future because you don't know the future. All you have is today. And at this moment, you ought to be preoccupied with Christ and His kingdom, Christ and His purposes, Christ and His righteousness. Your Father knows what you need. Because He knows what you need, don't worry about those things. Keep focused on things above. Keep focused on God Himself. Keep focused on the purpose that He's called you to live, for His glory and for His honor.

Stay focused on God. You lose that focus, you begin to worry. You begin to see things in life bigger than they really are. Listen, for the most part, the things we worry about really aren't that big a deal. They really aren't. We make them big in our minds and we think they're big because they're all-consuming, but that's because they've taken up so much space in our brains. We've allowed them to camp out. We've allowed those worry thoughts, those anxious thoughts to camp out in our minds, and that's all we can think about.

And we have ceased to pursue the kingdom of God. We have ceased to pursue His righteousness because we have refused to believe that our Father knows what we need before we ask Him. And we are a part of the little faith syndrome. We don't believe what God says.

I would choose to believe what God says. Take Him at His word. His integrity's on the line, right? His credibility's at stake. His believability is right on the edge. So, let God do what He says He's going to do. And you and me, we pursue His kingdom. We pursue His righteousness. We pursue to live like He wants us to live. Let's know what the Bible says.

Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints. For to those who fear Him, there is no want. What does that mean? To those who fear Him, there is no want. If you want something today, it's because you don't fear God. For those who fear Him, there is no want. You lack for nothing. Because Jesus is your all-consuming passion, His kingdom, His life, His future for your life. It's all you can think about. Because you fear God, you have no want today because you lack nothing. So, Psalm 109 says this, the young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.

They who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing. So, those who fear the Lord shall not be in any want of any want of what? Of any good thing. Any good thing that God has to give you, you're going to have because you seek the Lord first, which is exactly what Jesus says in Luke chapter 12.

Your Father knows what you need, therefore seek first His kingdom. That's the promise. It says, the righteous cry and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The righteous cry. You have an ironclad assurance that when the righteous man cries, God delivers them out of all of his troubles. If you're here today, you're filled with trouble, I would claim that verse and say, Lord, I am seeking your righteousness. I need you to deliver me out of all my troubles because you're my Father who knows what I need before I even ask Him.

You will provide for me. You have a plan for me. I don't know what it is. I don't know how you're going to do it, but I'm going to trust you. I'm going to ask you to deliver me from all my troubles. And then it says, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted, saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. Isn't that good? Out of them all. Didn't say many are the afflictions of the righteous and the Lord hopes to deliver you out of some of them.

He delivers you out of all of them because He knows what you need before you even ask Him. And then over in Psalm 37, that was Psalm 34, by the way, it says, don't fret because of evil doers, be not envious toward wrongdoers, for they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. Talk about this on Wednesday night, right? Our food is the faithfulness of God. My, my food is to believe that what God says is true.

If, if God says that He knows what I need before I ask Him, if God says that if He takes care of the birds of the field, He feeds them, I'm more valuable than they are.

If He arrays the lilies of the field in all their beauty and yet I'm more valuable than that is, then therefore, if I trust in the Lord and do good, I can feed on His faithfulness. I can trust God to do what He's going to say. This is my food. This is how I make it from day to day. I might not know where my food is going to come from. I might not know what dress I'm going to have for tomorrow. I might not know how God's going to take care of my future and my life. This, this, this disease that's riddled my, my physical body.

But you know what? I know this about God, that He is faithful. He is true to His word. I can count on Him. He's dependable. He is reliable. He is credible and everything He says is true. And so I'm going to feed on the faithfulness of God. I am going to feast. That will be my food. That will be how I will survive from day to day. God is faithful. Then the psalmist says these words, delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Isn't that good? What's it mean to delight yourself in the Lord?

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. And all these things shall be added unto you. Listen, when you're seeking God's kingdom, seeking God's purposes, seeking His righteousness, all you want is what God has for you. That's all you want. You want nothing else. All you want is what God has for you. Because God doesn't give you second best.

He only gives you the best. God doesn't give you leftovers. He gives you the best. Because He is your Father who knows what you need before you ask Him. All He says is this, seek first my kingdom.

Seek first my righteousness. I'll take care of everything else you have. But you must seek me first. That's why over in Isaiah chapter 33, it says, He who walks righteously, He who seeks my righteousness, His bread will be given to him. His water will be sure. You'll be taken care of. As long as you do exactly what God says.

So let's sum it up this way. We're going to end on time today. I'm not sure what that means, but we're going to end on time today. And that's this. If I am going to overcome worry, I must recognize God's purpose for my life. It's to give Him glory. My life is more than food and fashion. It's about the glory of Almighty God. If I'm going to overcome worry, I must realize God's provision in my life. He'll provide, He'll take care of me. I have nothing to worry about. Number three, I must remember God's providence.

It's all in God's time. I can't live any longer than what God has designed for me to live. So therefore, I remember His providence. I reflect on His preference. He prefers me over the lilies of the field. I re-examine God's paternity because He is my Father who knows what I need before I ask Him. And then I rekindle my chief pursuit and passion in life to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.

And then, number seven, rejoice in God's pleasure. It says, verse 32, do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom of heaven. Really? Yeah. There's something that God has gladly given? Yes, it is. His kingdom. And so therefore, we begin to rejoice in God's pleasure. How do we do that? That's next week. So you come back. We'll help you understand how not to worry. Let's pray together. Father, thank You for today, the great joy of Your Word and the precious principles it gives.

That, Lord, we might live in the light of Your beauty and glory. Thank You, Father, for the truth of Your Word and the opportunity we had to study it. And pray, Lord, that You'd go before us today, that we would live in the light of Your glory, looking and longing for Your return, seeking first the kingdom of God and Your righteousness.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.