But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore, don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.    Matthew 6:33-34 HCSB

Matthew 6:33 tells us if we actively seek God and His righteousness that He will provide whatever we need. It’s one of my favorites. But yesterday I saw a church sign which had Matthew 6:34 on there saying we should not be anxious for tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself and each day has enough trouble of its own.

As I drove past, I realized that while I love Matthew 6:33, I had never given much thought to Matthew 6:34 and I’d like to do that now. We know that we should never take a verse out of context so let’s look at what Jesus is saying here. If you go to Matthew 6:25 Jesus began this section by saying we should not spend our time worrying about what we are going to wear, what we will eat, or what we will drink and he says, “Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?”

Every event we go to we take great care over what we are going to wear, right ladies? Truth be told, we probably also spend a great deal of our time planning out menus to feed our families or nights out with friends.

But the thing that is most important is that we are earnestly seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness. When we do this, God will see to it that we have all we need. I can’t remember the exact quote, but Anne Graham Lotz once said if we busy ourselves with doing God’s business, God will take good care of our business.

But what did Jesus mean when He said we shouldn’t worry about tomorrow it will worry about itself and that each day had enough trouble of its own? Well, this whole section is telling us that we should not be anxious. I recited Matthew 6:33 and it became part of my mantra when I was going through a very difficult time about ten years ago. I guess that is why I refer to it so often.

Jesus is trying to tell us that He’s got our back. Or as my friend always reminds me, “Gods got this!” So, we shouldn’t worry. And if we worry about what might happen tomorrow, it robs us of our joy for today. Or as Warren Wiersbe put it, “Worrying about tomorrow doesn’t help either tomorrow or today.” If we spend today in anxiety over what might happen tomorrow, it makes us less effective in the things we need to do today. If we are robbed of our effectiveness today, we may be even less effective tomorrow.

Simply put worrying is a sin. If we truly believe in God and we trust in Him, we will avoid worrying and busy ourselves seeking His kingdom and His righteousness. This means instead of worrying, we will live for His glory. We will trust Him to work all things for our good and His glory.

Nobody ever said faith was easy. This is why Jesus explains this to us in these verses. He’s telling us that we must stay focused on Him not on what trouble may come our way. When we lose that focus, we fall into fear and anxiety and that does us no good whatsoever.

I’m going to tell you that this is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done as a Christian. I have had things happen in my life that have left me disappointed, frustrated and downright heart broken, but I have had to learn to give these things to God and keep my focus on Him. I have learned that worrying about it does no good. And I’ve also learned that the devil likes it when we worry because it distracts us from keeping our sights on Jesus.

Trust in Him. Believe in Him. Give your troubles to Him because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7) and get on with your day. Remember to stay focused on Him.

Have a great day!