Whats To Worry About

He makes provision for it. I want to show you something by way of contrast that’s really interesting. Back to Haggai. Haggai, it’s three books into the Old Testament from the back side. Malachi, Zechariah, Haggai. The first chapter of Haggai says, verse five, the Lord says, consider your ways, consider your ways. You have sown much but harvest little. You eat, but there’s not enough to be satisfied. You drink, but there’s not enough to become drunk. You put on clothing, but no one is warm enough, and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.

This doesn’t sound like provision. It’s not. Thus says the Lord of Hosts, consider your ways. Take a look at yourself and ask why it is like this. Why do you not have enough food? Why do you not have enough drink? Why are you not able to have clothes to keep yourself warm? Why is it that when you earn wages, they disappear? Verse eight, he says, go to the mountains, bring some wood and rebuild the temple. There’s the answer. They had forgotten whom? God. That I may be pleased with it and glorified, says the Lord.

You look for much, you hold it comes to little, and when you bring it home, I blow it away. There’s the issue. Why do I do that? Because of my house, which lies desolate while each of you runs to his own house. Wow, you’re not taking care of my house, but you all take care of your house. Back in verse four, he says, is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your panelled houses while this house lies desolate? In verse 10, he says, because of you, the sky has withheld its dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.

I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and all the labour of your hands. God made it all go bad. Wow. If he gave you life, he will sustain that life and he will provide all you need if you continue to honour him, right? The Lord’s providence in the food supply is staggering, isn’t it really? It’s just staggering. The variety is just beyond belief. Abundant, boundless, self-perpetuating, renewable food supply. There’s more than enough potential for this planet to provide food for the whole world.

You say, what about famine? Famine has nothing to do with the capability of this planet to produce. It has to do with false religion, such as in India, where they feed grain to rats and cows. It has to do with war and social politics in Africa. It has to do with communism, where they tell people not to work as a way to protest against the people who rule over them, and consequently, they turn verdant fields into dust bowls. It has to do with laziness. It doesn’t have to do with potential. The earth is still filled with food.

God has created a boundless, boundless supply, and he provides it for his faithful people. That’s why David said, I’ve never seen the Lord’s people begging bread. If you belong to him, he takes care of you until his work for you is finished. In Psalm 34.10, they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing. Young lions lack and suffer hunger, but not those who seek the Lord. In Isaiah 33.15, he who walks righteously, speaks with sincerity, rejects unjust gain, and so forth. His bread will be given him, his water will be sure.

God’s going to take care of his own children. So why worry about life’s necessities? Worrying is a failure to understand divine priority, and that is this. The priority is that you’re here as God’s child to fulfil a divine purpose, and he will sustain you until that end. And it’s a failure to understand divine provision. If he takes care of the animals, who only in a nominal way give him glory, how much more is he going to take care of you? Third point. Just introduce this. Worry is a failure to understand divine privilege.

Worry is a failure to understand divine privilege. Look at verse 25. I’m just going to introduce this. This is very interesting. Which of you, by being anxious, can add a single cubit to his lifespan? You know what a cubit is? It’s a measurement from the tip of your elbow to the tip of your fingers. It turns out to be about 18 inches. That’s how they measured things in cubits. So is it saying which of you, by being anxious, can add 18 inches to your height? I mean, who wants to go from 5’10 to 7’6? There’s no point in that.

And whoever thought you could do it by worrying? No, he’s not talking about that. He’s using cubit simply as a metaphor for length. And he’s talking about the length of your life, not your height. And he’s simply saying, do you think by worrying, you’re going to add to your lifespan? This is a matter of divine lifespan. Who does? God. The Lord gives. The Lord takes. Blessed be the name of the Lord. People say, oh, you know, if you’ve got to do this and you’ve got to do that to live longer? Live? Look, this society is berserk about lengthening life.

Mega-billion dollar industries in food supplements and vitamins and exercise and medications, on and on and on, you can’t add one day to your life. I don’t want to be here any longer than he wants me here. That’s kind of liberating, isn’t it? Takes the panic out. People are consumed with their health. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be disciplined. You should. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be moderate in the way you eat. And I’m not saying you shouldn’t stay in some reasonable condition so that you can serve the Lord with all your energy and all your power.

That’s important. Now there’s no virtue in the sin of gluttony or laziness or overindulgence. But I am telling you, worry isn’t going to lengthen your life, because the one who has the privilege to determine when you are born and when you die is the sovereign God. So what do you want to do? Don’t worry. You belong to him. He knows the priority is for you to serve him. He makes provision so that that priority can be fulfilled, and he determines just exactly how long he wants that to go on. What’s to worry about? Thank you for joining us in this exploration of what’s to worry about.

Until next time, remember to keep the faith, stay strong, and continue to shine your light in the world. To hear these daily devotions of your daily bread, please log on to goddessgovernment.com. Goodbye, and may your faith always lead the way. [tr:trw].