Friday night, I had the privilege of speaking with the women of my home church at our Night of Worship. The entire night was incredible: testimonies of the Lord’s provision, music, prayer, and time for fellowship over tea, sweets, and a bloom bar. Perfectly magical.
I wanted to share just a bit of that talk, focusing on Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
The entire talk looked at what the New American Standard Bible calls “The Cure for Anxiety,” Matthew 6:25-34. I pulled five main points from that text as Jesus laid them out:
1. Do not be anxious about your life (v.25).
2. The Lord provides for His creation; how much more will He provide for you (v.26-30)?
3. Your Heavenly Father knows your needs (v. 32).
4. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (v. 33).
5. Do not be anxious about tomorrow.
I love the way that action call (the thing you do!) is nestled after what you are to believe to be true of God and sandwiched between the commands not to worry about today or tomorrow.
Let’s set the stage with some definitions.
a. Want (v): to feel a need or desire for, crave, demand, wish
b. Seek (v): to go in search of, try to find, try to obtain
c. Trust (v): to rely upon or place confidence in the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc of a person or thing
Here’s how those three verbs work together. We seek what we want, and we trust what we seek.
Slow down and read that again. We seek what we want, and we trust what we desire. You can trace your trust or your anxiety to its root. What do you want?
Do you want safety and security? Do you long for love and respect? Financial freedom? Health? Peace? Comfort? A clean house? More responsibility? Less responsibility? Friends?
If one of these stands as the great desire of your heart, you will seek it. We seek what we want. You are going to take action steps to get what you want. Then what’s next? We trust what we desire.
Look, nothing on that list looks ungodly. It’s reasonable to want safety, health, love, comfort, and a clean house. But anything can become an idol.
When we trust in ourselves or other people or things, the Bible says we’re foolish, deceived, limited in understanding, dependent on fleeting things, and without guidance.
When we trust God, it’s because we want Him. We want to know Him. We want to be near to Him. We want to be like Him. We want to be used by Him.
So, we seek Him. We pour over His Word for the truth of who He is and what He promises. We turn from sin and obey His Word.
We trust what we seek and are not disappointed when God is the object of our desires. Then, we’ll trust Him.
When we trust God, He meets us with wisdom, guidance, deliverance, provision, peace, rest, strength, and hope.
I hope that encourages and challenges you tonight, friend. God is all-knowing, perfect, and always provides for His beloved people. You can trust Him. Seek Him first, and let nothing else steal your love, desire, and mental energy.
Brittany K. Miller 