So, don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.  Matthew 6:31-33 HCSB

I’ve seen coffee cups and t-shirts that say, “But, first coffee.” My husband will tell you that it is best not to speak to me until I have had my cup of coffee in the morning. But I would argue that it’s a combination. You see I have a coffee cup that a friend gave me that says, “I need a little bit of coffee and a whole lot of Jesus.” That’s how I try to start my day.

I do get a cup of coffee. But once I have that cup, I sit down and talk to Jesus through Bible study and prayer. I give Him the first part of my day. I seek Him before I do anything else. I do this because it has taken my hard head a long time to finally realize this, but I now understand that God knows what my future holds. When I trust in Him and obey Him, He takes care of things for me.

Because He knows what my future holds, He knows what needs to be done to prepare me for what is coming my way. Now, unfortunately that may not always be what I want. There have been times when God has told me no because He knew that what I was wanting would surely bring disaster if I got it. When I seek Him with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind as He commands us to do, He handles everything else for me. He commands us to do this in Deuteronomy 4:29, Jeremiah 29:13 and 1 Chronicles 22:19. We are told that the greatest commandment is that we love the Lord with all our heart, all our strength and all our mind in Matthew 22:37, Luke 10:27, Mark 12:30 and John 10:27.

This commandment comes from Deuteronomy 6:5. God not only tells His people to love Him with all their heart and all their soul and all their strength. He goes on to tell them in verses 6-9 to repeat these words to their children, talk about them in their house, talk about them when they walk along the road and when they lie down and when they get up. He tells them to bind them as a sign on their hand and let them be a symbol on their forehead. He tells them to write them on their doorposts of their house and on their gates. Everywhere they look, they should be reminded of God’s commands to them. They should constantly be focused on loving and seeking Him. They should put Him first in their lives. We would do well to do the same.

Today’s scripture is a cure for anxiety. What Jesus is saying here, is that if we seek Him first and strive for His righteousness, He will take care of all the rest. We don’t need to worry. Many of us are so busy trying to tend to our own business that we neglect God and the business that He has called us to do. What’s funny about this when you think about it, is we have no idea what the future holds. We are trying to line things up and make things happen in our future when we have no idea what the future will bring. But God knows what is in our future, so why would we not just focus on Him and let Him handle it?

It has taken me a long time to realize that when I seek God and His righteousness, He takes good care of me. When I turn all my worries over to Him, He handles it in the best way possible. Why? Because He knows what my future holds. He knows what is best for me. He is a good, good Father and He knows how to take good care of us.

If you are worried about anything in your life, know that you don’t need to. Know that if you resolve to seek God first and His righteousness, He’s got this. Give God your best. Seek Him and love Him with all you’ve got. Obey His commands. When we do this, He provides all that we need and He takes care of everything that comes our way. What a relief, huh?

We can rest easy knowing that even when the going gets tough, He is there to walk us through the fire and the flood (Isaiah 43:2-3). We know that even bad things will work out for our good (Romans 8:28).

Before you worry and fret, seek Him. Before you go asking all these people what you should do, seek Him. Strive to be obedient to Him.

You may be tempted to worry, but first seek God and His righteousness. Then let Him take care of all you need.

Have a great weekend!