When this crisis began, I came across various memes describing what people in the past accomplished during times of quarantine. Big things like plays, works of art, and scientific discoveries.
I thought that since I was home bound and all of life was put on hold, I too would devote my extra time to some things I’ve wanted to do, but just didn’t have the time to do. I thought I’d finally take up a paintbrush and create something beautiful. I thought I’d write and generate more content than I knew what to do with. I thought I’d finally learn to make my own pasta and organize the school room closet.
Not so much.
A Distracted Mind and Heart
While I have accomplished some things, those big things I thought I would do did not come to fruition. Mostly because my mind was so distracted. I had difficulty focusing and concentrating on the tasks at hand. I found myself thinking more and more about our current situation. I found myself dwelling about the future and wondering what it would look like. I found my mind consumed about things like our health, the contents of my pantry and refrigerator, my husband’s job, and how to help my children navigate this upheaval to their lives.
In Matthew 6, Jesus preached that all too familiar passage about the worries and cares of this life. It’s one of those passages I know so well, I take it for granted. I no longer stop and focus on what it means. Given my distracted mind, I thought it was time I return to it once again.
“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).
The Greek word for anxious in this passage is merimnaó which means to be pulled apart. To be divided. Distracted. Older translations say “to care for.” This is a good description of my experience these past couple of months. My mind has been divided as I’ve chased down “what if?” rabbit trails. I’ve been concerned about many things. I’ve put my present energies into future cares.
When Jesus mentions things like food and clothing in this passage, he is speaking about being anxious about the cares and concerns of this life—the whole of our life here on earth. This includes all the things we worry about in life, including our health, our needs, and our future provisions.
He then uses a logical argument of deduction, arguing from the greater to the lesser. Is not life more than food? Is not the body more important than the clothes we wear? Martin LLoyd Jones comments on this argument,
“The argument is a very profound and powerful one; and how prone we are to forget it! He says in effect, ‘Take this life of yours about which you are tending to worry and become anxious. How have you got it? Where has it come from?’ And the answer, of course, is that it is a gift of God…So the argument which our Lord uses is this. If God has given you the gift of life—the greater gift—do you think He is now suddenly going to deny Himself and His own methods, and not see to it that that life is sustained and enabled to continue?”
Paul uses a similar argument in Romans 8:32 and it is one of my favorite verses, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” If God provided for the biggest and most important thing we could ever need—our salvation from sin—how can we think he would fail to provide what we need right now? Because he rescued and redeemed us from our greatest fear—eternal separation from God—we can rest assured he will meet us in our current worries and cares.
Safe in Our Father’s Care
Jesus then switches to a lesser to greater argument:
“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? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (vv.26-30)
In this section Jesus has us look at two common features of his creation, things we see every day. He moves our gaze to the skies to look at the birds. God provides the food they need to eat each day. They are just birds, how much more so will he provide for us? He then has us consider the lilies of the field—the wildflowers commonly found in Israel. God clothes them in garments more beautiful than that of Solomon, how much more so will God provide for our daily needs?
This should make us pause and ask, why does God provide for us? Jesus tells us: “and yet your heavenly Father feeds them…” God is our Heavenly Father and we are his adopted children in Christ (Gal. 3:26-29). We are children of the King. We have all the rights and privileges that come with being his children. We are his heirs of all things.
Take a moment to consider the significance of your adoption. Consider all the ways a parent strives to meet a child’s needs. Consider the love human parents have for their children. How much more so is God’s love and care for us! How much more holy and perfect is that love and care! That’s why Jesus tells us not to worry, for we are held safe in the hands of our Father in Heaven. J.I. Packer wrote that “adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers…Adoption is a family idea, conceived in terms of love, and viewing God as father. In adoption, God takes us into his family and fellowship—he establishes us as his children and heirs. Closeness, affection, and generosity are at the heart of the relationship. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is a greater.”
Jesus concludes, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (vv. 31-33). What a freeing thing to know that because we are God’s children, we do not have the same concerns or cares as those do who are apart from Christ! We don’t have to worry about the future. Our minds do not have to be distracted or divided—as those who do not know the care of God for them. Our adoption in Christ frees us from focusing on all the “what if’s?” of life. Instead, we are freed to seek first the kingdom of God. We are freed to focus our minds and hearts on who God is and what he has done, knowing that our Father will meet all our needs for this life.
These truths in Matthew 6 are ones I need to remember when my mind is distracted and divided with worry. These are truths I need to remember when I fret about the uncertain days, weeks, and months to come. God is my Father. He is with me in the present and holds my future secure. I can trust he will provide for me, no matter what the future holds.
