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“So, do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.”  

Matthew 6:31-33 NIV

I do not believe I understood what it really meant to depend on God until I owned my own business. The ups and downs of the business cycle threw me into a loop of worry and fuss. I know that many people who lead others or carry organizational responsibility find more than enough reasons to fuss over things. There are deadlines, financial pressures, market instability and other problems. You can fill in your own blanks here. For me, it made my stomach churn and accounted for many sleepless nights. Until….

Until I determined to come to grips with my own lack of trust in God, could I then begin to take seriously Jesus’ caution against worry. I had to learn that I could not model faith in God until I developed a consistent dependence on Him. 

Jesus gives His disciples (and you and me ) more than enough reasons to trust in God rather than fuss about things. For me, I had to truly believe that the same God who gave me life will certainly supply the lesser gift of food and clothing. Then, I could begin to believe that the God who cares for the little birds will care for His people. I realized that as God’s child, I didn’t want to be like others who don’t trust God and fuss all the time over everything. I needed to stop running after things that truly didn’t matter. When I worry, I’m really saying to God that He doesn’t know my needs. How arrogant is that?  And, when I worry about what may or may not happen tomorrow, I deny the gifts He has given me today.  

I think many of us have found that there are times it’s hard to trust in God. I have had enough trouble to know it isn’t always easy. And yet, in all circumstances, the Bible points me always to God Himself.  Today, I can say with confidence that God will deal with whatever hard things come up when they come my way. And, they will. And, like the old saying, “If I worry and fuss over things, it is like I’m a rocking chair. It will give me something to do, but I won’t go anywhere.”

Next Steps

• As followers of Jesus who want to impact our generation for Christ, we want to lead in a way that allows others to see our faith in God.  One way we can do that is by depending on God in the face of our daily pressures. The next time you are under pressure, pray for the grace you need to depend on God, who is perfectly and eternally worthy of your trust.
• What is one thing you could do each day to cultivate your dependence on God and demonstrate that dependence to others who will see an example they could follow?