This season on the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Richard Caldwell and host, Dr. Josh Philpot are before a live audience seeking to answer questions on their hearts and minds. This week our questioner shares that Matthew 6:25-34 warns us not to be concerned with what comes next. They ask does this mean as Christians that we do not have to put forth any form of effort, such as working hard at things and doing our best? Should we simply sit back and trust God to do everything for us, no matter what our circumstances?

Dr. Caldwell tells us that the passage referenced teaches us not to be anxious about what we are going to put on and how we’re going to make it in life. In this passage from Matthew, our Lord shares examples of the care given to the birds of the air and the grass and flowers of the fields. He uses these to show us how our Heavenly Father cares for them yet how much more He cares for us.

The exhortation that He gives in this passage is for believers to trust God. The question then, is should the exhortation lead us to a life that is without effort or ambition, living life sort of passively, waiting for God to take care of us? Dr. Caldwell says he believes the obvious answer is that it does not mean that, and it should not lead us to live that kind of life. This passage is to teach to trust God and not to live lives full of worry and anxiety. We are to know and be convinced that our Father loves us. We are to know that He cares, that He knows what we need, and that He will meet the needs of His people.

Trusting God To Provide

So then says Dr. Caldwell, we need to ask ourselves, what does this look like practically? He starts by giving us some examples. He explains how the role we take in trusting God to provide the things we need is not one of passivity. He explains that effort and trust must be actively working together. Ours is a life of dependent effort, as is revealed throughout the rest of the New Testament.

Praying, waiting, and watching will go along with our active efforts for that which we are aiming to accomplish or achieve. Dr. Caldwell says that he believes that 1 Corinthian 9:24-27 offers a balanced picture of this kind of life, effort on our part along with complete dependence upon the Lord. Everything we have and are is from the Lord. Whether it’s our strength, our abilities, our energy, the opportunities we receive, and so forth, it all comes from Him, and without Him, we can do nothing.

How and what then should we think about what the Lord says in verse 34 of Matthew 6? Jesus tells us that we are not even to be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. What is mean by this? How are we to understand it?

Dr. Caldwell says that it doesn’t teach us is to give no thought to tomorrow as if tomorrow might not exist. Instead, it teaches us not to worry about tomorrow as if God isn’t sovereign and it’s all up to us. This is important for us to grasp. One of the keys to overcoming worry and anxiety is humility, remembering that God is sovereign and we are not. We can walk and make plans for the future, but not as though it all depends on us.

Our Heavenly Father Cares For Us

All the plans we make for tomorrow might prove to be totally mistaken, on our part. God might bring about a completely different set of circumstances than we planned for and expected. Yet, we are to go about planning and aiming, all while trusting the Lord in a way that rests in the Lord and His sovereignty. We need to know our heavenly Father cares for us, and this is the point of this passage from Matthew 6. We don’t need to worry. We can rest in the sovereign love and care of the living God.