Matthew 6:25–34 (NIV)

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

In this portion of Scripture, Jesus brings together two ideas that seem to have nothing in common. What does worry have to do with seeking? It turns out that they are very closely linked.

Worry is always focused on something in the future. You dwell upon what could possibly go wrong someday, and then carry the burden of it as if it was happening to you in the present. Worrying is putting your faith into the belief that God is going to fail, and then struggling to find your own solution to the problem. Worry robs you of the peace of the present for the sake of the possibility of the lack of peace in the future. Now, once you realize that worry is merely faithless speculation, you would think it would be easy to stop worrying. Unfortunately, you can know all of this and still struggle with worry because you can’t stop worrying just by realizing it is irrational. The only way to stop worrying is to place your focus on something else. Instead of looking to the future, you have to focus on the present.

Seeking is a very present action. You don’t seek something that isn’t there already. Everything that is sought is sought in the present. You are trying to find it now. If you don’t know where your keys are, you seek them. The goal is to find them and have them in hand. Everyone talks about seeking the Kingdom, but nobody really talks about finding. You seek it now because it is available to you right now. In seeking the Kingdom, the goal is to find it and have it in hand. You seek that you may find, and you find that you may be able to do what needs to be done.

If you struggle with worry, and don’t we all, it is important to know that if we are to follow Jesus we must learn to overcome this destructive tendency. It prevents us from experiencing the peace and joy that Jesus offers to us. This is where Jesus’ exhortation to seek out the Kingdom and his righteousness comes into play. The only way to stop worrying for the future is to begin seeking the Kingdom in the present.

Your Turn:

Paul gives us practical steps to transition from worry to seeking in his letter to the Philippians.

Philippians 4:4–9 (NIV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Step 1: Rejoice in the Lord always!

• The word “rejoice" means to “return to joy”. When challenges arise, when difficulties come, the only place that you can go to have your joy returned to you is with the Lord. When worry stirs, begin by getting in God’s presence.

Step 2: Do not be anxious.

• When worry and anxiety begin to take hold of your thoughts and emotions, freeze the thought and look at it like an outside observer.

• Take the now captive thoughts and emotions into the presence of God and lay them before His feet.

• Ask Jesus to help you to release the worry to Him.

• Thank Jesus in advance for the work that He is going to do.

• As you do this, it opens you to receive the peace of God.

Step 3: Replace the worry with hope.

• This is the essential piece that is often forgotten.

• Now that you brought the worry to God, you replace it by focusing on the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.

• This is how you practically seek His Kingdom and Righteousness.

• As you do this, it brings you into communion with the God of peace.