Day 5: Set Free from Empty Worries at the Cross

Teaching

Are you anxious about your daily needs? Do you have a fear of your needs not being met? Does it appear at times that no one cares about you and your concerns? Does it seem that your pleas for help fall on deaf ears? Come and sit awhile with Jesus and listen to His extravagant words of comfort, care, and fullness in Him.
“Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? 27 “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. 32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:22-32 NIV
Here Jesus invites us to gather close to Him as His beloved little flock. He extends His Shepherd’s arm of protection fondly around each one of us who may be feeling anxious or weak, overcome by many worries and fears of want. Never for a moment does He condemn us for our trembling or laboring hearts, but instead, He asks us to lift our eyes to His glorious face to find godliness with contentment in all circumstances (1 Timothy 6:6).
“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” John 1:14 NLT
In Luke 12, we hear Jesus saying to His disciples and to us: “do not worry about your life" (Luke 12:22 NIV)…"why do you worry" (Luke 12:26 NIV)…"do not worry about it" (Luke 12:29 NIV)…"Do not be afraid" (Luke 12:32 NIV).
However, in our distress, we may think to ourselves: “Jesus, I agree with these ‘do not’s’ but I feel condemned by them because I do worry! I desperately want to stop worrying, but I fear that I cannot! I can try, but I fear I will fail and disappoint God, myself, or someone else. If I stop worrying, what will become of me? I have needs, and I am feeling frantic, unloved, and lost. Don’t you see, Jesus, how hard I am working to find a way out of my problems, a way to stop worrying?”
Scripture tells us that “In this world you will have distress” (John 16:33 CEB). This distress comes to us all in countless ways: “worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.” (Luke 12:22 NIV). Or how do we pay our mortgage or the next week’s grocery bill, fix the family’s broken-down car, manage our children’s misbehavior, choose what to eat, look after our physical and emotional health, and what clothes to buy or wear tomorrow?
It is right to pray to God in faith and perseverance to fill our needs (James 1:3-5). We are not wrong to desire and work for the necessities of life. But in times when we must wait for an answer or a change in circumstances, we may start debating back and forth within ourselves seeking resolution. Worry and anxiety grow in our minds, along with strong emotions. The search to find the solution for our perceived lack may develop to become the most important aim or an idol in our lives, even ahead of our worship of God, just as “the pagan world runs after all such things" (Luke 12:30 NIV).
As the worries and demands of our lives dominate our thoughts, our heart “becomes set” (Luke 12:29 NIV), fixed on what we do not have and blinded to what we already possess in Christ and His limitless supply of grace.
As we fret and focus on ourselves, we become increasingly perplexed that we cannot affect any positive results. Jesus confirms that we cannot add a single useful thing to our lives by the self-centered, self-propelled work of worrying:
“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” Luke 12:25-26 NIV
Indeed, when we worry, our lives only become diminished by unclear and troubled thinking, which disrupts our daily joy, health, and sleep. What despair and self-condemnation comes knowing we cannot pull ourselves out of the sin trap of worry. The worry cycle of resolving to do better, being tempted to worry, placing confidence in our flesh to manage our circumstances, falling to habitual sinful introspection, and then starting the cycle all over again by being overwhelmed by guilt.
But God knows our every need: “your Father knows that you need them” (Luke 12:30 NIV), “for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:8 NIV), and promises to fill them: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19).
God’s character is one of care, limitless generosity, and grace. He calls us away from useless and empty worry to consider the beautiful illustrations of wild and unfettered birds and the flowers of the open fields. Such small creatures and wildflowers are vulnerable to weather and various perils, but God cares for, feeds, and clothes them even more splendidly than King Solomon:
“Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them." (Luke 12:24 NIV)…“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin.28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,” (Luke 12:27 NIV)
Jesus says to you now: “And how much more valuable you are than birds! (Luke 12:24 NIV)… "how much more will he clothe you” (Luke 12:28 NIV; emphasis added)
Oh, how wonderful it is when we look deeper into God’s word and see that we are not left stranded with impossible obligations to achieve from the Old Covenant – and the condemning ‘do not’s’ of Luke 12.
Instead, on each page of the Bible, we find glorious reminders and declarations of what the Son of God, Jesus Christ, has already done to meet these obligations for us and then showered us undeservedly with the riches of His grace. Despite our rebellion, pride, faithlessness, and dirty rags of self-righteousness (Isaiah 64:6), Jesus showed us the depth of His love and care for us on the cross. He proved how valuable we are to Him by what it cost Him to go to Calvary in our place, relinquishing all, making Himself nothing:
“but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:7-8
Jesus emptied Himself of His reputation as the Son of God and a sinless man. Jesus impoverished Himself by leaving heaven to embrace our humanity. He did not cling to His rights and dignity but forgave the betrayal of His followers. He did not uphold His compassionate healings and feeding of the multitudes of maimed, sick, and hungry people. He remained silent in the face of the false accusations of the religious and Roman leaders. Jesus was utterly poor, having "no place to lay his head." (Luke 9:58), with not a penny or possession to His name that was not taken from Him: "They also took his long shirt, which was all one piece of cloth, woven from top to bottom." (John 19:23 NCV) and used by the authorities as a tool of shame. This garment was torn from His body to have His back whipped into bleeding furrows.
Jesus was then dressed up in the mock stage clothes of a King - a purple robe, a crown of thorns, and a reed as a scepter (Matthew 27:29) - to be spat upon and ostracised and pummeled in contempt. He bore all this abuse and shame for us, to care for and provide for us eternally.
On the hill of Calvary, Jesus was crucified in nakedness and humiliation. His Heavenly Father added to the impoverishment of His sin-covered Son by rejecting Him in fury and wrath for our sins. Jesus' heart bled His love out to the very last beat, atoning for all our heart-piercing sins, and removing our guilt, and condemnation.
Jesus gave up everything until He had no more to give so we might receive everything we need for life and godliness.
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,” 2 Peter 1:3
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9 NIV
Through Jesus’ utter poverty, we are filled with so “much more.”
We receive an enormous inheritance of His promises beyond our comprehension, bequeathed to us when we became God's sons and daughters (John 1:12). We are now heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), having received an inheritance of eternal life (John 3:16; John 11:25-26), and salvation (Acts 2:31):
"...and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light." Colossians 1:12 NIV
Fear and Anxiety