Worry, anxiety, and letting the world be your Bible
Needless to say, I was taught to observe the Bible. In fact, this recent video by Desiring God resonates with me. I have spent my life (at least much of the last 20 years observing and observing and observing the Bible.
But, what if Jesus commands us to let the world be your Bible? In other words, when it comes to worry, anxiety and fearing tomorrow, what if Jesus says, "I want you to make observations, not only in the Bible, but I want you, along with your bible, to let the world be your Bible".
In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus commands his followers to do one thing - not to worry about our basic needs but to seek Him. He says it four times and four slightly different ways (v. 25; 31; 33a; and 34). But along with the one command, he gives 6 reasons not to worry. Jesus could have given a thousand reasons from Old Testament saints and God's daily provision and protection in their lives. Instead, like a wise sage, he tells us to come out of our prayer closets (Matthew 6:6) and observe how the world works. In other words, he's saying, "let the world be the multidimensional reality of God's faithful provision for you. See God's faithfulness in full color. Smell of God's faithfulness. Pull out the binoculars and be amazed at God's faithful provision for you. See it, smell it, feel it, observe it.
So, here's the observations - or the reasons that we can point to as we are tempted to doubt God's faithful provision.
- Observation #1, we are to observe the magnitude of life - to realize that life is bigger than food and clothing. Worrying about the little things is an indicator that we have missed the forest for the trees. And if God easily sustains life, can he not also easily provide for our daily needs? (6:25b)
- Observation #2 - we are to observe the birds of the air - to see that God faithfully provides for them and will therefore faithfully provide for us (6:26).
- Observation #3 - we are to observe life again - to realize that no one has ever added any life to their life by worrying about life (6:27).
- Observation #4 - we are to observe nature again - to see that God faithfully clothes the lilies and the grass and how much more, therefore, will he provide for us (6:28-30).
- Observation #5 - we are to observe the gentiles (or non believers) - that they worry because they don't know God. How much more shall we, as believers, realize that, not only do we know God, but he knows us! (6:32)
- Observation #6 - Actually, this is the only reason without an observation - it’s a promise - "And all these things shall be added to you."
But how are we to bank on the promise? Is "observing life" enough to sustain our faith?
No. Here's where we also need to observe our Bible. Underlying all of these natural "observations", we are to see God - that He has created life to be bigger than clothes and food; that because we are the pinnacle of his creation, he will care for and provide for us more than birds and flowers; that He is sovereign over the span of our life; and that he knows us and will give us those things that the gentiles desperately seek after.
And, most importantly, He does all of this because we are his blood relatives. He is our Father. And so, not only do we need to "observe" creation and "observe" the Bible, but in the pages of the Bible, we also need eyes to be able to "observe" the cross. Jesus could make the promise that God will provide because, as our Father, he knows our needs. He knew, though, that our greatest need was a cross because he knew that what we owed was death. We had a debt that we had to pay. And just like any debt that can feel like shackles as we try to pay it down, we were always going to feel like we just couldn't get on top of it. Our sin made God feel like a debt collector - coming after us because we weren't paying enough. And so, before the cross, our greatest need was to pay off this debt of sin and death. God was not our father who faithfully provides. He felt like a debt collector who was always knocking.
But the cross changed everything. The knocking of a debt collector became the knocking of a rescuer. At the cross, Jesus paid the debt in full. The shackles came off and God went from a debt collector who was demanding payment to the one who paid the payment. And more than that, he became our Father - a Father who has moved heaven and earth and even gave up his only son…to meet our greatest need. And if he did that, oh the assurance that we can have that, as our Father, he will provide for the thousand little things that make up our daily lives.
We realize, though, that out of his common grace, God, for millennia, has provided for those who aren't his children. But the difference is that believers have new eyes to see. Believers can see that life is bigger than possessions while non believers see that life is made up of possessions; believers can see that God's provision for the lesser creation points to his care and provision for us, while the non believer can't see that God is the daily sustainer of all creatures; believers can see that God is sovereign over life, while non believers see themselves as masters of their own destinies; believers can stand on the shore and see what the anxious toil of the non-believer looks like, while the non believer simply swims in the ocean of worry and anxiety, not realizing there's another way to live; believers can find the security that comes from seeking and seeing God and his righteousness while unbelievers seek the security of having enough; and believers can see God as Father while the non believer never knows that security.
In the middle of writing this, I got a call from our college daughter. No need for details, but needless to say, the conversation included the words, "dress", "towed", "transfer money" and "I'm sorry." Needless to say, she was anxious and those words caused me some anxiety. Maybe we both need to go outside and take a walk and observe life. Maybe we all should.
Let's pray for eyes to see. Let's see, smell, taste and touch God's faithfulness. Let's take our kids outside and point them to God's faithfulness. Let's see the thousands of stories of God's faithfulness in the Bible and let's let the Bible continue to speak to us as we step out of our prayer closets and into life. And, let's see all of it through the lens of the cross - the greatest display of Fatherly love and faithfulness that we could ever imagine seeing.
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