“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Matthew 6:25-26
I pause this morning from my studies of both Proverbs and Isaiah to listen to Part 1 of DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotion on worry. Here, across three days of the Solid Joys daily devotion, John Piper uses the Sermon on the Mount to unpack seven (7) promises Jesus gives us to encourage us in our battle against anxiety and stress. Anxiety and stress is something which I battle, and more often than not, it relates to worry over Zach and Dustin. This morning my focus is Part 1, which covers two of the promises Jesus offers on worry:
#1: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you
will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put
on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” Matthew 6:25
Piper states: "[s]ince your body and your life are vastly more complex and difficult to provide than food and clothing are, and yet God has, in fact, created and provided you with both, then surely he will be able and willing to provide you with food and clothing.
Moreover, no matter what happens, God will raise your body someday and preserve your life and body for his eternal fellowship."
#2: “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Matthew 6:26
Piper states: "[i]f God is willing and able to feed such insignificant creatures as birds who cannot do anything to bring their food into being — as you can by farming — then he will certainly provide what you need, because you are worth a lot more than birds. You, unlike the birds, have the amazing capacity to glorify God by trusting, obeying, and thanking God."
Thank You God for how You encourage in all areas of my life.
