“And why are you anxious about clothing? 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.”
Matthew 6:28–29, ESV
It can honestly be said that we live in anxious times, but what time was there not some level of anxiety? These words of Jesus ring just as true today as they were two thousand years ago. Anxiety about how to keep clothes on our backs, food in our bellies, and roofs over our heads has been around since Adam and Eve were exiled from the garden. Yet, God continues to provide. The Israelites in the wilderness were anxious about water and food. Yet, God provided. God’s provision is great, not because He owes us anything, but because He owns it all. He has created everything that is in existence, either directly or indirectly, through His creation. Jesus says these words not to shame but to set free. Trust in God and His providence, and be faithful in the calling that He has for you in life, and you will find that you have what you need. This isn’t to say that there won’t be a struggle or that you will just be able to do as you desire. When we trust in God, He places a sense of peace and contentment in our hearts. God is not about the glitter and the glam but about the radiant hearts of His followers shining out in the world. In this, we shine out His glory.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.